Communication works for those who work at it.
~John Powell
Communication is key. Haven’t we all heard that one before? In today’s world there are so many forms of communication, yet some of them do not seem to communicate well. Some studies say that less than 10% of meaning comes from words. I am not quite sure where that leaves us today when a large portion of our communication comes from texting, emails, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The question of how much are we communicating with each other in today’s generation. Sure, new technologies like Skype have helped bring back face-to-face communication, but that is not the sole source used today. Even with my conversation partner, we use other means of communication that meeting in person.
One of the first things that my conversation partner and I did upon meeting each other was exchange phone numbers. We knew that this would be crucial in arranging our meetings and hangouts. Email does work, but we know that phones get much faster responses. We have talked on the phone a few times, but it always remains short, with conversations like, “I’m running a few minutes late, but I’ll be there soon,” or “¿Puedes almorzar mañana?” The majority of the time, however, we just text each other. It is easy, and the other person can respond at her convenience, whether that is while with someone else and not wanting to take a phone call or during a boring class. Plans (or the cancelling of plans) happened really fast over texting. Other texts were just a “Oh, how was your day?” or “How did your really impossible, going to be the death of you test go?” Texting is a huge part of this relationship, as reflected in pretty much our entire generation.
Another thing that happened quickly in the conversation partnership was to become friends on Facebook, because everyone knows that if you are not friends on Facebook, then you are not friends in real life, right? Once we were able to find each other, a whole new world of opportunities was opened. Our ability to creep on each other exponentially expanded. We were able to learn things about each other and ask questions that we may not have otherwise thought to ask. In our long absence of meeting, we were able to keep up with each other through words, messages, statuses, and pictures. In our first meeting after spring break, she already had plenty of questions about my trip to Guatemala, which was great for me to hear similarities and differences between there and Columbia. I am able to see pictures of her family back home, which I will never meet unless I do take her up on the offer of a place to stay if I ever find myself in her country. We can write on each other’s walls whenever we want to tell one another something.
Of course, we do always have our face-to-face meetings. Now that both of us have our allergies under control we are trying to meet as many times as we can before I leave for the summer. Even though it will be sad, she is excited to make fun of the lisp I will have when I come back speaking Spanish from Spain. Perhaps we can Skype over the summer and continue to help each other with languages because she will still be in class and I will be in a foreign country where I will have to speak another language in order to survive. It is possible that the Skype will help with our communication because we have had our fair share of miscommunications over texts, but a lot of those come along with the language barrier that battle with each conversation. Maybe we will even go real old school and send post cards to each other.
Having heard the statistic that only 10% of communication is through vocabulary, its implications had never meant anything to me until I read this post. A lot of my conversations held are via text, email, or facebook, as much as it pains me to admit it. Skype and phone calls provide the opportunity for a more personal way of communicating, but face-to-face conversation still seems to be on the downfall. Even when surrounded by my peers, it seems as though everyone is texting. We are an over-stimulated, overly-available generation sometimes incapable of talking effectively with those we are around. Constantly I hear my mother saying "be with the ones you are with," which is a polite way of saying "put down your phone and actually talk with us." Its not until cell phones are taken away that we realize how rewarding and memorable personal interaction can be. As much as I adore my cell phone, I constantly find myself wondering what life would be like with it...
ReplyDeleteIts been great having class with you this semester- best of luck with the next!
Liz,
ReplyDeleteI envy all the communication you and your partner have (even if it’s not always face-to-face)!! My partner Gonzalo and I communicate solely through Facebook. Many a time, I have found myself wishing he had a phone that he used here in the U.S. It would seem to make this whole meeting up thing a lot easier, which causes me to realize - we really are an “intexticated” generation. Also, it seems you and your partner are close…maybe partially resulting from all the different mediums of communication used? Cool beans =)