50 8.3 Electronic Communication
Electronic communication has almost become more prevalent than speaking and listening. Sending quick messages via text, messaging systems, emails, and social media are fast, convenient, and efficient ways to communicate. Sending group information is a great way to have a multi-way conversation. These methods are useful for communicating with your instructors, your class-mates, your friends and family—even if it’s to quickly explain that you can’t join them for a movie because you’re working on an important assignment.
Unless you don’t use a computer at all, most people are used to using at least one of these modes of communication. They all have pros and cons and specific ways they are more useful for certain situations. For example:
- Social media: When a new mom posts pictures of her new baby on Facebook or Instagram, family and friends can all enjoy the occasion and make comments under the pictures that all can enjoy. This is revolutionary compared to the days when people had to print their pictures, seal them in an envelope, and mail them to a recipient who didn’t get it until much later. This method had a financial cost as well, including the printing of the pictures and the cost of postage. Posts on social media mean people can see them instantly and respond in a timely manner. This is a useful medium when you want several people to access the information or visuals.
- Texts: Texts allow people to send quick messages back and forth instantly. It’s great for meeting up with people or finding out information quickly. It’s great when you require a quick answer to an easy question. It is less disruptive than a phone call and can often be done fairly unobtrusively. Texts often use data and can be expensive if sent or received out of the country, when it may make more sense to use an app that uses wireless connections.
- Instant messaging: Apps that use wireless internet are really useful while traveling or for those that don’t have data plans. People can check in with family members and can share details of their trips. Apps such as Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, Viber, and SnapChat are examples. They can be used to share messages, links, videos, and pictures.
- Tweets: Tweeting is a form of social media but it differs in that it is broadcast to the general public. Anyone can see your tweets if they look for them. Some tweeters have many followers. Followers are those who have signed up to get notifications from specific tweeters. President Donald Trump is notorious for tweeting out his opinions in the middle of the night, and subsequently his tweets have made the news by morning.
- Emails: Emails are more useful for longer bits of information as it is easier to type an email on a keyboard on your laptop. They are useful for conversations in which you will expect a lot of back and forth messages. Emails can be easily searched to find a conversation string.
- College email: Often post-secondary students are given a col