Technology And CommunicationEssay Preview: Technology And CommunicationReport this essayAs I write this Im sitting in the Vancouver airport in the departure lounge which I find offers one of the more interesting places to study electronic communication. Although this is a completely unscientific study from my current vantage point I can currently see 35 people. 14 of those are either talking on their cell phones or sending text/email messages. 6 people are using their laptop computers, 9 people are reading, 4 are listening to music and 2 people are idle. An interesting side note is that the 2 idle participants in my informal study are a 2 year old while the other is an older woman that is over 70 years old by my guessestimate. I often like to study electronic communication habits while traveling because being on an airplane is one of the few times in modern life when we are forced to turn off our “electronic devices” as they are so politely labeled by the aviation industry. I somehow find it hard to believe that my cell phone could interfere with millions of dollars worth of high tech aviation electronics but Im always certain to turn off my phone as instructed. I suppose deep down I dont want to become famous as the “Occupant of Seat 4A who took a phone call during take off which led to the crash of Flight 168 to Toronto”. Of course many airplanes are now equipped with live satellite TV which keeps the flow of electronic communication flowing like an essential IV for the communication addicts on board but for the most part flying is an exercise in electronic communication withdrawal. As soon as the plane lands its like a group of drug addicts waiting for their next fix as their fingers tremble over the power button. What could be waiting for them? An important call from a client? A voicemail from a loved one? A txt message proclaiming “U R Fired, Pls Cln UR Desk Out ASAP”?
Black (2007: Oct 23, slide 7) argues that the advent of the telegraph signaled the first time that communication could truly be readily delivered without being physically transported. The ability to communicate across space without the constraints of time, cost of transport, or geographic considerations changed the very fabric of human communication. The advent of the telegraph coincided with technological advances that made travel across long distances easier and faster than ever before. Not only was the physical portion of message delivery removed from the equation but the message was able to pass even the fastest of these new physical transportation devices. These twin forces of technology began to change the way in which messages were valued, transmitted, and processed. The process of “cultural acceleration” had begun.
The current concept of cultural acceleration “is a product of an endless stream of new technologies in our lives, and especially, media technologies” (Black, 2007: Oct 23, slide 38).
However this full speed ahead approach to communication and technology is not without danger. Without caution we risk becoming the Titanic again, overly optimistic of technology as a method of overcoming basic irrefutable laws of nature. Any ship can sink due to the basic laws of physics and humans can become overwhelmed by messages due to the basic nature of our organic processing speed. Engineering, software, and adaptation can greatly enhance our external abilities to process and organize messages however the internal processes of comprehension and neural processing are untouchable by technology at this point in time.
As communication scholars fully appreciate, the ability to communicate is indeed a powerful tool. By essentially unleashing communication power and allowing the amount of communication to grow exponentially we are creating inflationary pressure. Anyone who has spent an afternoon with a busy corporate executive can tell you that their job essentially consists of managing, creating, responding, and controlling communication. In this new “knowledge economy” these tasks can be qualified as the labour of the modern day worker, the daily tasks of respond, reply, forward, delete, forward, and teleconference. But how much is too much? Just like exposure to excessive noise, wind, sun, etc. can be harmful can exposure to too many messages be just as detrimental to the human species?
In an amazingly short span of history the ability to communicate has been enhanced so rapidly that it has created a new set of challenges. The ability to communicate instantly across the world with text, sound, and video and a very low cost has raised the question of what happens to human organisms when we are presented with more messages than we can process, exposed to such speed and quantity of information that our feeble organic brains are barely coping and we teeter on the edge of “total loss of the bearings of the individual” (Virilio, 1995, 1).
The current message boom is testing our ability to handle high volumes of information and humans may be teetering on the edge of information overload that could send us plunging into a modern dark age. Max Nordeau warned in 1892 ….it would “take a century for people to be able to read a dozen square yards of newspapers daily, to be constantly called to the telephone, to be thinking simultaneously of the five continents of the world” without injury to the nerves.(Kern, p. 210). While Nadeau was giving us 100 years to adapt to the telephone and newspaper he didnt provide any guidance to help us with the true communication monster we have now confronted with the advent of the proliferation of electronic communication.
Even though my time on earth has been brief so far even I have noticed changes in communication expectations. People that didnt even know what email was 5 years ago now expect a reply in under an hour. If youre not reachable on you cell phone instantly you can expect a flood of voicemail from those wondering just what you are up to. As an owner of a small business for the last 5 years I found myself struggling to find time to grow the business while spending the majority of my time managing daily communication with existing clients. I eventually found myself pushing growth to the stage where I could hire employees and one of the first positions to be filled was the ubiquitous “Administrative Assistant”.
The difference is that now you get to share all the things that you do with a group of people who are going to make mistakes in the future. But then the conversation is a bit more focused. Instead of “Hey I am going out and looking for the best work” or “How are you doing?”
You might say the main reason for this can be “but there is nothing I can offer to replace what I have done (that you are going to use to make the best work possible).” but, it isn’t the whole story.
If you want to understand how the world works better we have to look to your example. How are you going to do things that do so much to change who you and what you do to people that do not know how to work in a competitive job? How are you going to make it easier for all your businesses to become part of this new and unique economy? How are you going to make it for the people you do work with, to improve your working situation, your life and your work environment?
In my experience, having experience, experience of building communities, growing communities and sharing knowledge is a key to making sure that your business is a win-win when everyone else is doing the same things differently, and to making sure people enjoy their work without getting hurt. (And it should be mentioned that while you are building a brand, making a living is hard, and many businesses are small businesses with limited resources and high turnover, where the cost can be great.)
My suggestion is that you take your best guess at how well everyone else is doing right now and do a series of things right away to make sure that they are working with you to make the best work possible and then make sure that everyone on your team does the same.
Make it clear in the process that people you work with are already good people who have done a great job and aren’t afraid to change the way they do things to make life easier. Use their experience in your business as an example of what someone can learn about you. For example if you go about your business every day you know you are doing most of the work you use, not just work you are working, and in every interaction you have with anyone on the world I have personally seen people say they cannot work from the outside unless they get the job right.
Create a team. It is often easier for people to become successful when you have people who are not only successful but really have it built into your company that you put emphasis on because you don’t try to go away.
There are many different ways to build a successful business, this is the first one being that your first step to being successful is to create a person and a product/service network that leads people to you. You will need to do those things, make