Adapting to 21st Century Communications

I just read an extremely interesting post on a friend’s blog concerning the evolution of communications in our modern era.

It got me thinking about how we’ve traditionally communicated, and how that’s changing as communications technology evolves. The eager adoption of new forms of communications makes me believe that people, as a whole, are HUNGRY for new and faster ways to connect with one another. We simply can’t seem to get enough of being connected in umpteen different ways.

In his blog post, my friend presents five “key” skills to communications in this new era, which I find very interesting. I’ll let you go and take a look at them for yourself, but the gist of it, and he can correct me if I’m totally missing the point, is simply this…

In order to be able to successfully communicate in our new, interconnected world, we need to be doing so with a clear intent of valuable contribution and the willingness to put the concerns of other’s before our own.

Think of it like this.  If you’re at a traditional social gathering, you know, the kind where people actually get together at the same physical location.  Yeah, yeah, “Who does that anymore, right?”  Well, bear with me for just a moment here.

Assume you’re there and all you do is talk about yourself. What YOUR problems are, what YOU want, what YOU need.

You’ll probably be sitting by yourself before long, and I don’t give much hope for an invite to the next get-together.

Now, if you take that same, self-serving communications online, you’re going to be blocked or ignored by even more people, and not just in your little area of the world, but everywhere! It’s a chance for your obnoxious behaviour to be known around the world.

By NOT considering the needs of others and NOT stepping out with the intent to provide value and benefit, you effectively isolate yourself from the community.  What would happen if we all did this?

I believe our new communications era requires everyone to be mindful of just how far reaching our voices have become.

We, the average people of the world, have an opportunity to create positive change of a magnitude that simply hasn’t been available to us before. We also have an equal potential to build barriers and mistrust. Those are, and always have been, our choices in communicating with one another.

We need to choose wisely, and, we need to consider HOW our voice is impacting on an ever larger audience.

Anyway, go check out my friend Rockne’s post and then, please, let me know what YOU think.

Thanks for reading,

Don