|
created over 2 years ago | Tagged: |
Afordrunning
|
* 20 phone calls made to landline contacts (all over 30 years of age): 14 picked up, 5 rang out and went to voicemail (one of them was my boss - shame on you!), 1 call engaged. * 20 phone calls made to mobile contacts (all over 30 years of age): 18 picked up, 1 call rejected and sent straight to voicemail, 1 call disconnected with no voicemail. * 20 phone calls made to mobile contacts (under 30 years of age): 5 picked up, 12 rang out and went to voicemail, 2 calls disconnected with no voicemail, 1 call engaged. * 20 text messages sent out to the same mobile contacts (under the age of 30): 18 responses within an hour of receiving a delivery report, 1 didn’t reply, 1 didn’t get a delivery report back in the hour.
If I were to really pull at the seams, it almost feels like the iGeneration is scared of picking up the phone. I can’t pin a specific reason on why, exactly, but Pat Phelan believes it boils down to timing and how busy the recipient is. In a work environment, I can understand this. But this is of a social nature, and though presence technology is useful, I suspect one could argue that an incoming call surprises the recipient when in a state of not expecting a call.
Voice can give away a lot about where you are, what you are doing, give context to emotion and frankly requires effort. An instant message or a Facebook wall post gives off very little, usually. But us young’uns have managed to develop our own text-language to include elements of emotion; the emoticon, the ability to add inflection, capitalisation and other techniques which add feeling to the conversation.
