I am in my mid fifties and so I am old enough that I have seen the "old days" and young enough that I have seen and in many cases embraced the new social media age. This is unlike say someone 10 or 20 years older than I who might be too far past the social media age. Further as a professor (albeit adjunct grunt), I get to hang around young people and observe their habits. Finally, as a business owner, I get to hire some of those young people.
There are many things to like about the social media age. We can connect with more people and stay almost in constant connection with the people we care about the most. I can reconnect with people I went to high school or college with. My mom lives in Peru and I can stay connected to her. I can know what is going on in the lives of my kids almost as if they were nearby.
However, I have to say that there are some emerging trends that I have seen just getting worse and worse over time. I am going to focus on those things that impact how we communicate with each other.
Quantity communication over quality
When is the last time you read a well written letter? When is the last time you got a phone call that just was from someone who wanted to say hi? I got a call like that a few weeks ago and nearly fell off my chair. We have fallen victims to the "sound bite" generation and lost the desire or even the ability in well thought through ways. Social media doesn't always feel "social".
Stretches of the truth
Truth is becoming more and more of a premium and stretching the truth is more of a norm. The Holy Spirit is really convicting me of that one. For example, let's say I am hitting .375 in baseball; I conveniently round up to .400. I used to say I played baseball in college. But the truth is I tried out and gave it up after about 2 weeks. So I have made a commitment to not lie or even stretch the truth. And it is so refreshing. So many resumes I see embellish the truth. Little lies begat big lies.
Distrust has become the norm
Ever wonder why there are so many personal injury lawyers? They are now sponsors in the media and they are on every billboard on the highway. Have you ever asked yourself whether that is indicative of a distrustful society. There is a hard and soft cost of that distrust.
Social media has become an agent of hate
Similar to the one above. Social media is a way of expressing venom and feel somewhat anonymous. Good article on this in Inside Higher Education. In the past, if I disagreed with someone, I would go to them and talk it out. Now it is a matter of lashing out when we feel wronged. Social media gives us a sense of anonymity. I do the same thing in my car when I tailgate someone. If I was standing behind them in line, I certainly wouldn't push up to them and yell at them to hurry up. It is the sense of anonymity that does that.
No contacts back
I am guilty here as well. Something that drives me crazy is when I am trying to reach out to someone I know and they don't contact me back. Inevitably, they might say it is because they didn't have something to say or it is bad news. I get the blind sales calls that I ignore just because I am subject to resource restrictions, namely time. However, I am talking of the person that I know who just doesn't give me the courtesy of a call back. Send me at least a one sentence e-mail or text telling me I received your note and will contact you.
Opinions are often subject to political correctness
The fascinating thing about social media is that it allows a sounding board. However, more and more it has to fit within someone's box. If it is not in that box, it is viewed as anti this and anti that. Opinions now have to go through a certain filter. As a leader, I choose not to pick on things that I know are inflammatory even though I have strong beliefs on the subject. It is not worth the risk now. I would rather talk on the really big, weighty matters. That is those of faith and relationships.
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