Send me feedback on social media if you have any constructive criticism/comments to share.
It is not uncommon to hear statements being thrown around like, "this would be easier face-to-face" or "texting isn't the same as talking". Such declarations are rooted in the observation that different channels of communication excel at different things. In this essay I will provide a model for categorizing different channels of communication and show how this model can make predictions about what sort of channels are good for what sort of things, and at what cost.
Upon finishing reading this essay, you should have some useful concepts for discussing questions like,
My main goal with this essay is practical. Through the exercise of characterizing various forms of communications, I hope we can all make more effective decisions in choosing how we communicate with each other by choosing channels well-suited for our purposes.
Communication can be described in a handful of dimensions. First, we can distinguish how the events of communication occur in time. I'll call this the temporal nature of a system of communication. We can characterize the content of communication events, noting that some channels allow more diverse, richer information than others. We can also characterize the "staying" or permanence of communication events. Finally, we end with a discussion of how different interlocutors affect communication, e.g. social relations between different people, human and computer interactions.
Real-time communication is like talking face to face or chatting over the phone. There is no fixed order of who talks when, limited only by manners. Both people could should at each other continually as in a political debate with a bad moderator and uncooperative candidates.
Asynchronous communication is like text messaging or using a similar functioning chat application. Communication is comprised of discrete events (i.e. you can count how many times different people write stuff; this is not always clear in speech), but users create these events in a not-agreed-upon order. By definition, interlocutors never "interrupt" each other in the sense that messages will always appear in sequence; even if two people post something at almost the same time, the system governing this communication (e.g. Facebook messenger) will decide who sent their message first and thus which message appears first.
Finally, we have turn-based communication where there is a fixed order by which exchanges happen. Two friends may pass notes back in forth at a regular interval, for instance.
We can categorize all sorts of ways people communicate into these three types of systems. For example, playing a game of chess is a type of turn-based communication. Playing Starcraft, a real-time strategy game, is technically asynchronous (as it has to be processed by a computer), but gameplay will appear real-time because players are doing all sorts of things at once—gathering resources, flaming their teammates for being st00pid, etc. Posting blogs is a form of asynchronous communication where blog posts become available to read as authors publish them.
Face-to-face "traditional" communication is famously rich in its expressed content. In addition to words which may be copied down into writing, there are facial expressions and body language. Beyond this, there is also fashion ("dress for success"), bodily/physical appearance, gender dynamics and all sorts of other factors that influence face-to-face interactions. All of these things combined form the "richness" of this channel of communication.
On the other hand, many forms of text-based communication are fairly limited, often by technical constraints. For example, an online message board may allow users to post messages, do some text formatting (e.g. bolding and italicizing) and have an avatar/profile picture. There is a "equalization" that happens between users; as the old saying goes nobody knows if you are a dog on the Internet.
Some channels are very restrictive on the types of things you are able to communicate. For instance, in many games, you are only allowed to say a small collection of pre-written messages (saw this on a friend's Nintendo switch). Rudeness and stuff is censored by having a very content-restricted channel. On the other hand, using some video communication software like Skype or Zoom, you are given lots of creative freedom, comparable to face-to-face interactions mediated by a glass screen.
Communication events "stay around" longer in some systems compared to others. Communication channels like Twitter can be searched and archived. "Lawyering" trolls can play whack-a-quote to beat you into submission according to ill-defined terms of service and codes of conduct.
On the other hand, face-to-face communication in its fullness is ephemeral. Even a recording of a face-to-face interaction does not capture everything about the communication event. New tech like 3D scans and Virtual Reality technology may make people able to create increasingly face-to-face like interactions that also have staying power.
"Staying" Power is a characteristic that is helpful some of the time, and to be avoided in other circumstances. Historically, many people have wanted their old letters/communications destroyed. To communicate over long distances, they needed to use written communication (e.g. letters), though they may have preferred a more ephemeral medium. Going into the 21st century, discussion about
Often, what channels are best for communication depend on what people are most familiar or competent in. For this reason, spoken, face-to-face communication is often best. This is a "default" channel of communication for most people.
Note that some people may feel more comfortable with non-face-to-face channels of communication. For instance, nerds on the Internet may prefer to use reddit to argue so that more muscular fraternity-bro looking types cannot intimidate them.
Many nerds relish in the fact that they can type very quickly. Online, they believe they appear they are quick-thinking and perceptive because they can conjure paragraphs with fast finger-flicks.
The nerd thrives in a text environment—hiding behind an anime profile picture—because it is here that many of their weak points can be hidden and their strengths (such as abnormal tolerance for arbitrariness, encyclopedic knowledge of the esoteric) can be amplified.
The pen-and-paper written medium is different from typing on a computer (in who-knows-what software). So to tell children that it isn't important to learn (cursive) handwriting because they can just use a computer is a narrow-viewed, short-sighted choice. The medium of pen-and-paper affords freedoms (continuous rather than discrete) without much technical overhead—it is often much easier to recover from the tip of a pencil breaking than a system crash, or some security policy locking away your access to some files. Furthermore, you don't have to struggle through terrible UIs, menus, buttons and the like to figure out stuff like making a bulleted list, drawing a table, etc.
Choosing improper channels is a recipe for frustration and fatigue.
I've seen sad Chinese students listening to roommates reciting grocery lists, holding their phone up to their ear and repeatedly playing back the same message. I think this is pretty dumb channel usage; why not have a list written out you can visually refer to?
Just stahp.