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October 10, 2006
Too Much Of A Good Thing?
Great article on CNN.com titled "Can Internet Communications Sustain Us?" The author talks about balancing one's online life with a healthy mix of direct interpersonal communications. As the Internet continues to expand its reach into more and more areas of our lives, the points discussed are very intriguing..
A couple of interesting facts:
-- A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that Internet users tend to have a larger network of close personal contacts -- a median of 37 compared with 30 for people who are not regular Internet users. That fact is rather logical give the Internet's ability to expand one's "reach" or "universe."
-- The growing awareness of the 20+ year old Gen Yers of the risks inherent in some of the social networking behaviors being engaged in. It may seem obvious to those of us in the over-40 crowd, but having risque pictures of oneself on the Internet can come back to haunt you later in life. Duh...
For me, the interest stems from interoffice behavior we see as increasingly common...people conducting complex discussions or managing customer interactions exclusively through e-mail or IM. More than once I have cautioned people that the tone of an e-mail is interpreted by the reader...often differently than the writer intended.
We see similar desire to "automate" communications with channel partners or sales teams. While electronic interactions are acceptable for many routine touches, there remains no substitute for a period face-to-face meeting, phone conversation or even live Web meeting. Despite all the Internet is helping us achieve, we are still human. Again, it may seem obvious but creating the right balance of offline, online and "frontline" interactions is more important than ever, as online tools make it easier and easier to "communicate" without having to actually talk to someone. (As a technogeek, I think I just committed heresy.)
Finally, I will be addressing this in a future post...3D virtual worlds like Second Life, with their increasingly human avatars, challenge us to transfer increasingly human character into our online relationships. If you are not familiar with Second Life, take a look. And more to follow from here.
Posted by jcioban at October 10, 2006 3:22 PM
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