For most of the last decade I've worked in positions that required daily--if not hourly--contact with teams and management abroad. The proliferation of web 2.0 technologies have made this process incredibly simple. Technologies like Salesforce and Binfire allow me to work more efficiently and communicate with coworkers more effectively than ever before. Through them I can chat, post updates, create reports, comment, collaborate on files, track work, etc. The only other tool I really need for internal purposes is Skype for the occasional conference call/meeting.
I have multiple team members who work in North America and the few times we meet up each year at shows or conferences the in-person relationship feels very natural and without awkwardness, due to the quality of our work communication, courtesy of these amazing tools. I think that the high quality of collaboration provided by these tools not only makes our work more effective but allows for fewer misunderstandings and therefore minimizes personal differences and internal politics. The quality of the tool actually reduces counter-productive human elements.
Interestingly enough, I'm making fewer phone calls and sending fewer emails internally--(still using the phone and email in abundance with clients). The same is true in my personal life. Facebook and LinkedIn have all but eliminated emails to my personal network of friends and professional contacts.
Email has taken on a totally new function in my life because it actually implies a certain sense of formality with the person I'm writing to. I find that I only email someone for business, service or if the person hasn't embraced social media (usually because they lack a certain comfortability with new technology). The media is very much the message here, each type of media indicating separate elements of the philosophy of dialogue.
I don't think we're quite witnessing the death of email, but I do think that its function has changed quite a bit. My email address used to be very personal, but now its more similar to my actual mail box at home...a place where anyone can place almost any type of communication...some of which I read...some of which I file in my personal records (like bills that I mostly handle online)... and a lot of which I throw away.
Today email is but one of many ways to communicate with people...and the path chosen to do so should be well thought out because the plethora of media through which to communicate each sends a separate message to the person you intend to reach. They're like an elaborate array of overlapping concentric circles forming an obstacle course of interconnectivity, each indicating its own context, your content notwithstanding.
When you get an email from a Facebook friend what does it imply? Does it define your relationship as less friendly and more formal, or does it just mean the content of the message is to be taken more or less formally? When a client messages you through LinkedIn instead of email what does that imply? Does it mean your business relationship is improving or does it mean that your relationship is more personal than business?
What is the message implied by the media we use to communicate?
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