Jed Cohen » telephone http://jedcohen.com A Few Thoughts Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:25:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 My Problem with the Telephone http://jedcohen.com/my-problem-with-the-telephone/ http://jedcohen.com/my-problem-with-the-telephone/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 16:12:31 +0000 Jed http://jedcohen.wordpress.com/?p=49 I feel incredibly awkward when I talk on the phone sometimes.  I kind of wish I knew why; I suppose that it’s a function of two things.  The first is that I primarily use digital communications when I’m interacting with people I don’t see on a regular basis – I’m more comfortable using e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter, so I tend to communicate that way.  But when I have to actually talk to someone, I’m not used to interacting with them in that manner.  The second is the standard communication theory concept that intermediated forms of communication lack the feedback that in person communication does – I don’t have body language to rely on, so its more difficult to gage what the other person means.  But this should make my digital interactions more difficult, right?  After all, the digital realm has even less feedback than the telephone.  Perhaps the difference lies in the fact that I’m able to edit my words, to consider every possible interpretation and make sure that what I’ve written reflects my intent.

Maybe this means I should pick up video chatting and then get everyone else to do the same.  Or not.

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