New Technologies & Communication Challenges
As an Internet business person, you enjoy some advantages over your offline peers, but at the same time, beware of dangers you may not see lurking just over the horizon, the computer screen horizon, that is. Let’s look at a couple of issues that challenge the online entrepreneurs’ communication skills .
For example, a few years ago we heard a lot about etiquette in electronic messaging on the Internet, about needing to be conscious of how messages might be misconstrued by receivers.
That prompted the idea of emoticons, little symbols that indicated emotion, in place of body language and facial expressions. Emoticons have pretty much disappeared, but not because everyone began communicating in a civil way.
For example, if you take part in a videoconference, you may notice you don’t watch faces as closely because you’re working harder to catch the words. And, if the camera adjusted to take in more facial expressions, then some body language is lost. Without face and body clues, which we get in face-to-face communication, we may misinterpret and respond inappropriately.
Think, too, about the differences in messages sent by email versus those sent as conventional printed letters. Email certainly leads to faster responses and greater efficiency. However, when sending a printed letter we proofread it both on the screen and in print. And, the time between our initial thoughts and sending the letter is longer. That provides time for second thoughts, sober or otherwise, thoughts that might be wiser or better expressed.
What about webinars, which are online seminars? Participants take part through their computers. In addition to getting voice feed, they also watch the screen, which is divided into three active sections. One portion shows the presenter’s notes, another shows reader questions, and a third shows something else. How well will participants absorb the material being presented in this environment?
New technology opens many doors to entrepreneurs, but for each open door, there’s also a new need for improving communication skills . All things considered, new technologies and new media introduce new challenges to even simple communication processes.
Don’t be too taken by the word ‘new’ though – Marshall McLuhan wrote the definitive book on changing technology a couple of generations ago, when television was supplanting radio.
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