Just Because We Have Instant Messaging…
Posted by Tech Editor8 · Leave a Comment
SMS. Yahoo Messenger. Gchat. Facebook Messenger. Whatsapp. The ways in which we can send a message within seconds continue to increase. As costs drop and ease of sending accelerates, the time we spend sending these messages expands as well. We still just have 24 hours a day.
I remember when the telephone was stationary. People could leave a message on an answering machine, and expect an answer within a reasonable amount of time. People respected that others had things to do, errands to run and could not always respond immediately.
But now, with instant messaging, the culture is changing. We are expected to respond immediately. And if we don’t we may be at the risk of upsetting someone, or messing up their plans.
How do we deal with all of this? It starts by setting boundaries. Do you have times in the day when you don’t touch your phone? Do you have boundries about how much time you spend on communication in a day? How do you ensure that technology is used to build meaningful and not shallow relationships (messaging to 10 people on a Whatsapp group at the same time is not going to help build deep relationships).
What are some policies that you follow to ensure that you don’t let technology like phone and instant messaging, take over your life or that of others?
