Face Time
December 11th, 2006 by MarionA few weeks ago I participated on a CPRS panel on the topic of communications during mergers, crisis etc… Instead of going through the traditional “to do” list (ie. make sure media lists are updated, have home phone numbers etc..) I decided to engage the audience around the impact of new media and the five second news cycle in crisis management. There were a few nods, some glazed stares and some truly horrifed looks. During the question period one woman stood up and basically said “new media was all well and good but at the end of the day face to face contact was critical.” Because I wasn’t really sure what to say (wanting to be on the side of the angels) I nodded eagerly in agreement…but I wonder. A few days earlier, by chance, I happened to be part of a staff discussion on new media. Interestingly enough the group, dominated by young PR professionals, was divided on how important actual physical contact was. Some felt instant messaging was in fact better. I raised the same question with a friend of mine, an HR professional, who vehemently contended that being in the same physical space was critical for important discussions. She said, “Imagine how you would feel being emailed ‘you’re fired’.” Yup, that would be grim but I am not sure today’s 16 year old will feel the same in the future. She may just shrug and email her very best friend, who she has never actually met, for solice.
December 14th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Growing up in the ‘electronic era’ and qualifying as a ‘young PR professional’, I stand right in the very middle of the line on this topic. I love communicating electronically, but hearing someone’s voice or seeing their non-verbal communication is so important in interacting with people.
As a part of GCI, I have had the priviledge of working with colleagues across offices. I have made some really close friends through email and instant messaging (with occasional phone calls). We even said the other day, ‘its amazing how good of friends we have become, yet we have never even met each other.’ We both feel like we should at least have some mutal happy hour stories to share! But how great does it feel when you actually get to put a face to the name?!? It also makes a difference in future coorespondence with that person.
In regards to being fired over email…it happened in 2006, and it was not very well respected. I hope that my employer (now and in the future) would have the audacity to have a face-to-face conversation with me about the areas that I am not performing and subsequently why I am no longer employed with them. However, if I didnt care about the job, then I dont think I would care how they fired me.
Ktg
December 15th, 2006 at 10:26 am
Wow, this is a tough one. While I’m sure some of it depends on personal preference, I think that subsequent generations will care less about “face time.”
Right now, I think we are in the middle of a shift. This has no doubt has caused a lot of debate between those who still feel that human contact is a necessity, those who believe it’s a nice added “extra”, and still others who don’t think it’s important at all.
What’s interesting to note though (at least in my experience) is that it is VERY difficult to project subtleties across an instant messaging application or email. It’s very easy to misunderstand someone, to take their humour incorrectly, or to take offense to something that was supposed to be light-hearted.
I feel that unless you know the person you are ‘IMing’ or emailing quite well, there is too much room for error when discussing things from remote locations.
But maybe that’s just because I am somewhere in the middle of this shift, and am less proficient than the younger generations at getting my point across on ICQ or MSN.
December 21st, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Maybe not too far in the future you can have both…face time with the speed of 5-minute communication aka virtual worlds! Companies can now have a virtual life portal where employees from around the world can assemble to receive good and bad news
February 21st, 2007 at 10:57 am
yes the present electronic media has taken the world faar away, but still we miss seeing face to face and talk, may be over a period of time our youngsters will get used to all this.