Interpersonal Skills for the Digital World free essay sample

It seems everyone you meet these days, from students in elementary school to their great-grandparents, has a cell phone. In addition, most people have other electronic devices as well, including tablets, laptop computers, and MP3 players. These devises have inarguably made worldwide communication much easier. However, as is often the case, convenience has come with a price. I did not grow up in the digital age. When I was a child, the biggest revolution in interpersonal communication was the touch tone phone, and that was greeted with skepticism by my parents (â€Å"What’s so hard about dialing a phone that you need push buttons? †). In the 1970s, however, electronic communication took off. Fax machines were a wondrous invention, as was the clunky â€Å"car phone. † I remember my soon-to-be husband telling me in the late 1970s, that some day I would not only have a computer in my home, but that I would use it to send text, sound, pictures, and video all over the world, virtually instantly. We will write a custom essay sample on Interpersonal Skills for the Digital World or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Frankly, I thought he was a nut. If he had also told me that the computer would be small enough to fit in my pocket or purse, and I would also be able to make phone calls from it, I probably wouldn’t have married him. Yet here we are, and it is indeed a wondrous age. The only problem is that some people don’t seem to know when to unplug. There is nothing more disconcerting to me than when I am talking to someone and they pull out their phone and start checking their messages. I’ve seen couples out on dates paying more attention to their phones than to each other. And there isn’t a teacher or trainer I know who hasn’t had to cope with students taking phone calls during class. In Adult Basic Education, we see another effect of the digital age, especially in our younger students. They are so used to texting, and using the abbreviations commonly used in texts, that they routinely use these abbreviations in all their writing. Teaching the difference between formal and informal writing, or business and personal communication, now must include a lesson on spelling. While using the common abbreviations may be all right when sending a text for business purposes, it isn’t appropriate in all settings. In general, business communications, including e-mails, should have a more formal tone than is appropriate in personal communications. This means the standard rules of language, including proper grammar and spelling, should be applied. In addition, I have found that most of my younger students have never addressed an envelope, much less written a letter by hand. While a case can be made that these skills are no longer necessary in an age where electronic communication is the norm, and everything from banking to writing Grandma a thank you note can be done from a cell phone, we are in fact not a paperless society quite yet. I guess that will happen by the time the Baby Boomers have died off, but for now, these are skills that people still need to have. As for myself, I have the opposite problem. For me it is not a matter of learning how to when to turn off the phone or how to write a business letter. On the contrary, I need to learn how to be more adept at using the latest technology. Because my students and colleagues communicate electronically, I need to be comfortable with that technology as well. However, dedicated cell phone users need to remember that cell phone technology is not available everywhere. In many areas around the world, including rural areas in the United States, there is no cell phone service. I do not have cell phone service at my house; in addition, the only internet option available other than dial-up is a satellite connection, which means I have limited bandwidth. While I can do quite a lot with my satellite internet, I cannot enjoy all the advantages of digital communication that many people take for granted. Conclusion With each generation, digital technology becomes more commonplace. It seems that the latest device is hardly in the market before it is obsolete, and new advances are greeted not so much with amazement but more with annoyance they took so long are still not perfect. Still, we are not yet a completely wireless, paperless society. Without a doubt, anyone doing business in the digital age should be comfortable using electronic communication technology. However, that does not mean that common courtesy should be neglected. In my opinion, the live person in front of you should take precedence over the electronic gadget in your hand. I think if people at least follow this rule, they won’t go too far wrong in either their business or personal communications.