Sunday, June 21, 2009

How Do You Communicate?

I remember when I was a little girl and the way I communicated with my friends was either to call them on our rotary dial phone or hop on my bike and ride over to their house. Life was so much simpler, but I also have to think that communications were so much slower…how did business get done?

Today, I am amazed that we are able to run a virtual foundation, out of over 150 homes around the world to help orphans in China. We get emails and Skypes with updates on the children we help daily from our staff in China. Problem solving is instantaneous and happens immediately with computers. We are able to conference call for meetings and there are days that I never speak to anyone except through my computer.

I have to laugh, though, at a conversation that I had with Amy on Friday. When I was talking to her on the phone, she said that she didn’t know where to start…she had hundreds of messages on Facebook, Twitter, email, that all needed to be returned. We both thought back to a year ago, it was just email and phone. Now we know people in all different mediums, people who want to help children, have questions about adoption, or doing the work to make this foundation run. There are even more social networking tools out there that we have still to explore, like Linked-In. How funny it is that we have so many ways to communicate. I wonder what will communication look like a year from now, what about 10 years.

What do you use to communicate and what is your favorite way to contact people? Do you think there is such thing as communication overload? Do you see disadvantages as more of our communication takes away from personal contact or do you think that communications will allow us to streamline how we work and create even more personal time?

Karen Maunu

3 comments:

  1. I definately think back to simpler time when communication was a phone call on a corded phone, a hand written letter and miss those times. Raising kids who are always "plugged in" with all this technology to me is a scary thing. I think its is just a harmful as helpful most days because there is always someone who figures out how to use all the good technolgy to do something bad. Don't get me wrong I love to comunicate with family while I was in China and its good to get info fast but it also is also isolates us more from one on one contact. makes me think sometimes how far we have came but what all we have lost.

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  2. I like texting the best....quick and easy and I know most people get the message almost in an instant.

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  3. Communication and a varied theme for many people. BUt add in deafness then it's a whole 'nuther demention.

    I was born hearing and remmy the rotary dial phones and touch tone phones. Letter writing and riding my bike to my friends house. Those were simpler times.

    NOW for me I find my PC is my communicational life line. Closed captions are amust if I look at the news, and a Teletype phone (TTY) which are fast becoming a thing of the past in the Deaf community, because of the ease a cell phone can send texts, adds much more to it.

    I think communication is vital. I, too have to check email and facebook and the phone. (can't hear it ring) but have called ID. makes for an interesting life.

    And I certainly do NOT take my PC for granted or the phone since it is such a production for me to call anyone now.

    BTW if anyone gets a call from me announcing a Relay call. I am NOT a telemarketer and I really hate hang up calls. ;o)

    gotta check Face Book. LOL

    Hugs,
    Barbara
    deaffmommie

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