Social change or just more (e)mail?
Filed under: etiquette, innovation, internet, lifestyle, social trends
How has telecommunications really impacted our behaviour and attitudes?
There’s no denying that advances in telecommunications are driving tremendous social change across the globe, connecting billions of people like never before and offering incredible possibilities for social interaction and in the workplace.
But how often do we stop and think about how these technologies are impacting our society, how they’ve changed our everyday lives and who’s been left behind? Is there a new digital social etiquette developing and what should it be?
I am giving away my age, but I remember the days before colour TV, the internet or mobile phones, when I was a kid growing up in Nerang on the outskirts of the Gold Coast. One of the big events of the day when we were on school holidays was the arrival of the Postie. As soon as we heard his whistle blow, we’d be out at the mailbox, watching his tiny C100 motorbike going from house to house, while he handed out news from the outside world with a smile and a quick chat.
We’d run inside for a letter opening ceremony on the kitchen table, and I’d put aside the stamps and postcards for my collection. If it was important news, we’d get on the family’s blower, a Bakelite rotary dialler, to tell our friends and family.
I am sure this ritual was repeated all over Australia and the world, because people have always had an insatiable desire to communicate, converse, correspond, connect, stay in touch, pass on … to talk to each other. It has been a key part of human nature since the dawn of time.
The Aboriginal artists who drew the incredible 4000 year old rock art at Eagles Reach in Wollemi National Park 160 km northwest of Sydney, were telling a story to pass on to others. It was the human desire to communicate that inspired Telstra’s predecessors to send the first Morse code signal in the Southern Hemisphere between Melbourne and Williamstown 155 years ago.
Today, I look around my home or my office and I am surrounded with sophisticated telecommunications options, enabling me to communicate in many different ways with just about anyone, anywhere in world at anytime. These technologies have inspired a whole new language and communities of Tweeters, Facebookers, YouTubers, bloggers, emailers, texters and internet gamers. Modern networks, applications and devices have opened up great opportunities to provide better services, to bring people closer together and to conduct business from almost anywhere.
My pockets are packed with devices, a BlackBerry, an iPhone, an HTC touch, a Country Phone and, in my briefcase, a wireless laptop. This means I can communicate from anywhere there is a Telstra telecommunications network. The office follows me home, it fits in my pocket and comes with me to the family barbecue and the kids’ parties but not the dinner table (an example of the Quilty family’s digital social etiquette). These devices even used to wake me at 4am with that familiar Blackberry vibrating sound – but I’ve turned that one off. I also have a constant stream of people who want to be my friends, which is great except I don’t even know who some of them are. The other day the family hard-drive had a near-death experience and there was pandemonium.
But what is the impact of all this communicating on our work, our families and friends, and the wider community? Are we more in control of our lives as a result? What do we like and don’t like about it?
I’d like to pose a couple of questions that I’m hoping you can think about and provide your thoughts. What is the single most profound impact that the internet and mobiles have had on our society and you personally? Do you think there is a need for a new digital social etiquette and, if so, what are the most important things it should cover?
I hope we can have an open and thought provoking online dialogue about these questions and I really value your input. I look forward to reading your comments.
The new digital social etiquette and some interesting digital facts?
We know telecommunications is impacting families, communities, marketplaces and workplaces. In all these environments people are increasingly using new languages, having new expectations and working within the bounds of new rules, values and social norms.
There is a new digital social etiquette being developed about how to behave and not to behave in these environments. Sometimes this social digital etiquette is a straight transfer from the offline world. Often it has come about in a somewhat haphazard and adhoc way, unrestrained by traditional rules … and sometimes this is part of the attraction. And on other occasions brand new rules and norms have had to be developed to address issues that are uniquely online.
In terms of some interesting digital facts, consider:
- Globally, approximately 247 billion emails are sent each day.
- This year there will be 4.3 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, growing to 5.8 billion in 2013. India alone added 14.4 million new mobile subscribers in July 2009, bringing their total number of mobile subscribers in the country to 442 million.
- The number of interactions we have on the Telstra network has grown fivefold in the past 6 years … wireless Internet is doubling every year and traffic on our mobile network is doubling every 13 months.
- There are 5M Twitter users in Australia and if Facebook (with about 300M members) were a country, it would rank as the world’s 4th most populated country.
- One quarter of Australian adults who are online create their own content and approximately two-thirds of Australian mothers contact their immediate family via online social networking at least once a day (23.9%) or at least once a week (40.6%).
- 80%+ of businesses are using the internet to support their business activity in Australia.
The Internet (and all it’s composite parts) has been with us for some time now, with varying degrees of impact. The impact to early adopters may have been less due to the restrictions placed on them by technology limitations such as device availabilty and cost.
It seems to me that with the lowering of costs, the widening of access in both device types and broadband access, we have seen a massive increase in the uptake and usage. As the uptake has spread, so to the expectation of availability.
The idea that you are available 24×7 is crossing over from personal life to career and vice versa. I think the great challenge this presents our generation is how do we move from the 40 hr week into the hybrid personal/professional world.
The benefits this new digital age brings are there for everyone to see, but successfully implementing them will be challenging. The whole concept of work is work and home is home is up for grabs – the time is ripe for a brave new world!
Thinking about the pure etiquette issues, I don’t think the basics change, we simply need to apply them to today’s technologies. I’m talking about the simple things like;
pay attention to the person you’re talking to, and don’t answer the phone, email etc.
turn the phone off when in a restaurant, the cinema etc.
It all comes down to the common courtesies that have stood the human race in good stead for a long time.
Don’t talk about people behind their backs ( i.e in an email).
One of the big challenges is that the internet allows people to be anonymous, and so anything can be said, sometimes with poor motives, and of course, once a message gets out into the big bad www world, getting it back is nigh on impossible. I’m sure we have all done a ‘reply all’ in error and lived to regret it.
I personally like being able to work wherever I am. I also like not having to be a slave to the time clock at work. I hope that over time, employers will start to seriously look at the output of an individual rather than the hours they put in at the office, which can be totally non productive.
Taken as a whole, technology is a great thing, no sooner have we mastered one new toy then someone brings out another. Keeping up is a challenge, but fun.
I can recall the pre computer days ( and I’m not that old!), the days of carbon paper, letter writing and the typists pool, and getting paid in cash!.
I’m sure we’ve all had a joke at someone elses expense from the odd email floating around with a picture or video of an embarrassing moment.
In times B.I. (Before Internet) it may just have been a rumour or folklore (depending on the activity), but now cyberspace has turned these myths into reality and shared them with the world within seconds and minutes.
My worry is for our children and what this may mean for their future. Gone are the days when you could get away with the odd faux pas (or worse). Words and events are now preserved literally forever and I don’t think our youth understand the importance of being vigilant with digital social etiquette in this dynamic and unforgiving environment.
There are some interesting and consistent trends emerging from this discussion on the social impacts of internet and mobile technologies. Firstly, keeping in touch with family and friends around the world is by far the most frequently referred to social benefit. Hardly surprising but a strong demonstrator of people’s overall social priorities. Secondly, the loss of personal face-to-face communications time and the blurring of work and non-work time are two of the biggest concerns. On digital social etiquette and what annoys people most, it is clear that being on the iPhone or the Blackberry while talking with someone is a definite
no-no. Keep the feedback coming and let me know what you think should be the next steps in tackling this intriguing topic.
For me the internet has given me the ability to research nd solve issues in the day to day running of my household.
ie. Online forums allow the exchange of ideas and solutions for day to day problems. ie. how to fix a broken ducted evaporative cooler, what is a good recipe for cooking lamb, how do I get a feature of Win XP up and running etc.
The fact I can look up, fix , repair, diagnose, buy, sell etc in realtime is amazing. There are so many people willing to share knowledge and know how. It is just amazing.
you didn’t publish my blog. why?
I remember when I first saw the potential for web communities having strong discussions around whether they would help or destroy communities.
My view is that they had immense ability to create communities of interest and in someways friendships for those who were less socially active. In a few cases friendships that were not possible yesterday are today a severley disabled person can sit at home and have friends across the globe. The IT Geek from school can find others just like him (or her) 24 hours a day seven days a week. So the new world has much to offer in the delivery of community.
However whilst it can create community for the poorest in our society it can exclude them. No phone and no computer and you can be locked out. Imagine being the kid at school whose mum and dad have no computer – try doing the powerpoint homework or look up research on line it can be tough. So we need to remember both those who are included by new technology but also those left out who if not catered to will fall further and further behind the rest of us.
And yes we all need to be focused on being polite across all the new forms of media. Or we may find ourselves slammed across facebook, twitter or you tube with little defence.
coxie, welcome to the club.
coxie says: 6 Nov 2009 at 4:32 pm
“you didn’t publish my blog. why”?…
Not only did they not publish your blog my friend, but Mr. Quilty hasn’t even had the decency to answer your simple question – of WHY not? – in over 2 weeks.
Tells a sad tale and answers the “we are listening claims”…
Norms or tolerance levels as to what constitutes selfish behaviour or rudeness vary geographically, culturally, and demographically (especially considering the combined age/cohort effects).
Friends tell me that Japanese commuters dont speak on mobile phones (they message and text).
In Australia we may tolerate a short verbal exhange, but not a long one.
However, I am not sure we’ve worked out one size fits all for old technlogy, let alone new. I was on a long bus ride in the USA recently and passengers became seriously offended by an elderly man, probably slightly deaf, having a loud conversation with the woman sitting next to him. Howver, no one said anything and everyone just glared, rolled their eyes and squirmed.
Even where there are rules (eg the bus-driver had announced a ’short phone call rule’ there will be nuances, in which case it still comes down to how we communicate a line has been corssed without offending (and preferably without recourse to use of firearms).
Hi Coxie
I’ve searched for all your comments in the admin function that sits behind this site and I believe we have published everything we have received from you.
You have commented on different stories:
- Understanding Broadband speeds. Your comment is there
- A New View of Communications. Your comment is there
- Signals from a Mobile Future. Your comment is there
- Social change or just more email. Your comment is there
Let me know if I’ve missed something and I’ll be more than happy to take another look. I enjoy your comments like the fact that you take the time to keep them on topic.
Cheers
Kristen
Good work Robbie and Kristen, this Site seems to be working. Extensions of sincere congratulations also to Catherine McCormack and David Thodey who, despite extreme operational pressure, find the time to respond to correspondents at The Exchange.
Experts have talked about this before. How many times have you read about the importance of ‘adding value’ for your audience? How many times have you read about ‘building trust’ with your readers/prospects?
Many, many times. You know it well. Every marketing guru has spoken about this topic. I’m sick of hearing it. But it STILL bears repeating.
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