Guest Post: Jian Xiong Yeo

Jian Xiong is one of Chris' Fall 2011 Professional Speaking students at Carnegie Mellon. Here he writes about virtual communication.

As technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, it is inevitable we rely more on it as a medium of communication. Smart phones, computers, and social media web applications are all part of a burgeoning world of information technology that is just waiting to flood us with a torrent of information and content. With new means of communications, there arise certain issues that we should be aware of to ensure effective communication in the virtual realm. Not only do we become more connected with one another, it is a lot easier to communicate with each other as well. I personally feel that this is a good thing as it promotes better communication for society as a whole.

With the advent of computers, virtual communication has never been easier and cooler. We had telephones in the past, and science fiction films depicted video phone calls. Now, this technology is right in your very hands. If you have an in-built camera on your computer or laptop, you can make such video calls to anyone over the internet. Video call services such as Skype and Google Voice now make it especially convenient for one to video-call their loved ones. Other telephony services such as Jajah are taking advantage of the vast network that is the internet and the fact that the internet is an extremely low cost commodity to disrupt the telecommunications industry. One can now make international phone calls at a very low cost with Jajah and this greatly benefits everyone especially in a world where many people constantly leave their homes and travel for work.

In addition, hardware such as smart phones allows for communication in your pocket. 3G services are now a part of many people’s smart phone plans and this allows for communication right at one’s fingertips. In the past, email was sent via computers, but now smart phones allow us to do this right in our palms. Some people are now so attached to their smart phones that they simply cannot live without them. Heavy Blackberry users who are seemingly attached to their Blackberries affectionately call them “Crackberries” due to their addictive nature. Even traditional mobile phone services such as SMS are now giving way to instant messaging on the smart phone. It just goes to show differently communication has changed as we move from one new technology to another. We transition to a traditional analog form of communication to a sleeker, more powerful form of virtual communication.

On top of the hardware discussed above, web applications such as the various social networks and blogs have also changed how we communicate and express ourselves in the virtual world to a captive audience. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter provide us with the platform to voice our opinion to the world. The internet knows no boundaries and whatever we say on these networks is broadcast to everyone with an internet connection and an internet browser. In this day and age, freedom of speech is now digital and online. This new development in virtual communication is a great way to convey ideas and encourage creative discussion online, just like how online forums were conducive to such discussions in the past.

All in all, virtual communication is something of a new development over the past decade. It is something that still requires more thought and development in terms of policy. We managed to enable effective communication in the past century and now with the new digital medium, we are bound to experience teething problems in handling virtual communication. What is ethical in this boundless virtual world is still a tricky situation. Privacy issues constantly arise in the virtual world and we have to ensure that they are fixed. But it is hard to deny that virtual communication is here to stay and we should continue to make it a great experience beneficial to mankind.

References:
Marshall, Matt. “Jajah promises simple Internet phone, but has hitches” SiliconBeat . Ed. Matt Marshall, 2006. The Mercury News. 4 Oct. 2011
Thompson, Nicholas. “Sir, to Whom May I Direct Your Free Call?” The New York Times. 2003. The New York Times. 4 Oct. 2011.
McIntyre, Sinead. “Blackberry addiction ‘similar to drugs’” Mail Online. 2006. Mail Online. 4 Oct. 2011.
Keen, Andrew. “Social media’s success formula” The Telegraph. 2009. The Telegraph. 4 Oct. 2011.