Over the past several years I have noticed myself becoming more and more reliant on electronic communication as a form of contact. Whether it is for an online class, work, or for social networking I am slowly becoming a cyber-freak.
In the past when I would wake up the first thing I would so is get the paper to get my local news and forecasts. Now I roll over and grab my laptop to get all the info I could possibly want. For me my two pound netbook is pretty much all I need. Technology has changed drastically in the past several years. It has certainly changed my life and I know it has changed the way we communicate globally.
This past year my company has embraced change and it came in the form of skype. Skype has changed the came for use. It was too funny to see our seventy year director get on skype and go from having the most difficult time one could imagine, to getting the hang of it.
Skype was founded in 2003 and is a video conference program. Skype is a great tool to have face to interactions without being in the same room or even the same country. I have had great success with this technology, because it eliminates the impersonal aspects of web communication.
Instead of bouncing e-mails back and forth from person to personal or group to group, skype give people face to face interaction. Being able to see what a person is saying physically is a huge advantage and eliminates the awkwardness of cyber-communication.
It is a really encouraging thing in communication to be able to directly see a persons facial expressions. Nonverbals are a large part in communicating and often they are lost with web based interactions. Skype is a great tool to interact with individuals and groups.
I have been using skype now for over two years and it is perfect for business as well as staying in touch with your wife on a skype date when your away on business. Great technology that you should check out.
2 comments:
I have used Skype as well and it is a wonderful tool for staying connected in a more personal way. I have experienced the positives and one negative. I enjoy being able to talk "face to face" with family and friends who are spread across the world- it feels like they are right there. The one negative I found is based in the same fact. I have a fear of public speaking and the good thing about conference calls, webinars, and e-mails is that you don't have to look at people while you are talking. I had to give a presentation to a group of people for my Regis Senior Capstone project via Skype. They were located in Denver and I was in Chicago. For me it felt the same as standing in front of a room of people, but worse, I could see myself at the same time, Ahhhh! For people with stage fright such as myself, the facelessness of the internet if being lost with the popularity of Skype. All in all, I Skype is a great tool, I will just have to keep working on conquering my fears.
I have never tried Skype. Although I do support a video conference setup where I work and it sounds like it is not much different. It seems that we are heading in that direction with communication. Like everthing new it takes time to work out the bugs and get everyone onboard. Personally, I think it is great that one day we all will be able to just hop on a computer and video conference in with other people, no matter who they are and for what reason. Right now texting is big among young and old, so I think eventually they will implement video talk on cell phones. Kinda like a James Bond movie. Shaken not stirred please.
Rigo
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