Face-to-face discussions are the foundation of human communication, and once established it allows us to build trust, clearly articulate our ideas and minimize misunderstanding. However, for many of us, face-to-face is a growing rarity, replaced by text messaging, Skype, e-mails, and social media. Human communication and interactions are shaped by available technologies. In the marketing and advertising industry, it is our job to stay relevant, informed, and up-to-date on the newest communication channels and incorporate them into our repertoire of capabilities. To build meaningful connections between people, we need to learn to let technology enhance our communication, rather than define it. As new communication technological advancements become available, our temptation is to deprioritize more time intensive face-to-face interactions at the risk of losing critical tone, texture, and context. Sure, e-mail and social media dramatically impact the speed and volume of messages, but there is a danger in allowing the subtle aspects of dialogue and personality fall to the wayside.
