Swetha is one of Chris' Spring 2012 Professional Speaking students at Carnegie Mellon. Here she writes about virtual communication.
Communication
has been derived from the Latin word "communis", meaning to share. Man is a social animal and communication is
part & parcel of life. We don’t
realize but we are so dependent on technology and used to virtual communication
that life seems impossible without laptop, smart phones, internet, cellular
network & cell phones. But what is virtual communication? Virtual communication
is interacting with others in virtual reality. There are various forms of
virtual communications like video conferencing, telephone calls, emails and
text messages. Technology has advanced to such an extent that geographical
distances do not act as hindrance for communication.
Be it any culture, to have an
effective communication certain things are essential like communication is not
all about talking but also listening. When we interact we should be relaxed,
which is the key to effective communication. In virtual communication we
virtually connect but there has to be a bonding and respect for each other
while communicating. One should be prepared, polite, enthusiastic, passionate,
confident, direct and simple while communicating. Virtual communication is
being extensively used in education, healthcare and entertainment to name a
few. There can be two type of virtual communication i.e. synchronous and
asynchronous. Synchronous virtual communication is like a phone call or video
conferencing where person from each side communicates like real time
conversation. Each side waits for the reply from the other side. On the other
hand emails, text messages are asynchronous type of communication where people
email or text and continue with their work and do not keep waiting for the
reply. There is delay in asynchronous communication and does not have the non
verbal element. This is why we have emoticons in instant messaging and email.
These emoticons convey more than words.
I use virtual communication almost on a
daily basis. I am so addicted to my iPhone that I can’t imagine any time of my
day without my smart phone. I use it to make local and international calls,
text my friends, surf web. With Wi-Fi and 3G, I even use it to “Skype” with my
parents and friends back in India. Phone calls and Skype make me feel close to
home even though I am in a different continent. Skype has become so popular
that it is almost used as a verb. Virtual communication has made earth a
closely bound planet. I am in Pittsburgh and my parents are in Bangalore, India
but distance does not seem to be a problem because I am virtually connected. I
bought a pair of boots last week and was so excited that started showing it to
my parents on Skype. Virtual communication gives me confidence and a sense of
attachment as I am not far from my loved ones anymore. I stay in touch with my
school and college friends through googletalk, Yahoo messenger, Facebook, Skype
and the list goes on. Another advantage of virtual communication is that one
cannot feel lonely at any point of time. No matter where you are, if you have
internet or phone, then you are connected.
For me the value of virtual
communication is not just limited to personal life. I worked at Oracle for
three years as an IT consultant. I worked with clients across the globe and had
to interact with them at regular basis. In IT consulting communication plays a
key role. Working form off shore wasn’t a big challenge as I was virtually
connected with my clients and peers. We had Voice over IP phones and whenever
wanted to reach someone from our desk, just had to dial a number and got
connected to people in any part of the globe. Our team used to have calls, web
conferences with clients which made our work simpler and faster. Business at global level gives you the
opportunity to interact with people of different cultures and learn new things
about them and their culture. I worked with Asian, European and North American
clients and learnt a lot of things about their business, work culture even
though I did not travel to all these continents. I really find this technology
amazing of connecting to someone who is miles away, in seconds.
In business the current belief is that
virtual communication is replacing face- to- face interactions. Virtual
communication is efficient, inexpensive and easy to use. But a study by the Cornell Center for Hospitality
Research found that under certain business conditions, face to face
interactions are more effective than virtual communication1. To some extent it is true that virtual
communication cannot be equivalent to face to face communication as it lacks
the personal connection that you have when interacting with someone
face-to-face.
With
life moving at a fast pace we cannot connect to people every time by having
face to face interactions. We keep moving, our loved ones keep moving but with
virtual communication we no more feel isolated. We are all connected and bonded
by this great innovation of mankind i.e. virtual communication
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