Communications and Conversations

Let Them All Talk

I posed a simple question on Twitter: I see a trend toward DMs over emails for some people. Not a huge email fan either but still not sure I like said trend. Thoughts?

A Twitter “DM” is simply the email platform called Direct Message.

Email me your fax so I can DM the response to your PDA

In the course of a day, I will use literally every medium at my disposal and I don’t give it much thought. Some prefer email, others like calls, social media portals for others, texts are the way to chat with some and there are friends and colleagues who don’t do anything unless it’s face-to-face.

Here are some responses to my query...

joshchandler: it's interesting, a lot of people DM me as if they were sending an email.

ethanwaldman: If the connection is meaningful- networking, NOT selling, I prefer email. 140 characters is not enough for correspondence.

clothbot: DM is the new IM replacement.

MarkBlevis: The problem is the amount of time & energy it takes to move the conversation in DM (140-char) vs. email or in-person.

knealemann to ethanwaldman: In the course of a day, I may 'converse' with someone in five different ways. #technology

Wooby: Excellent point about new communications tools giving us more choice. This is left out of social media conversation too much. I get notified of DMs via email anyway. Ditto for FB msgs. On my end, they're all the same.

knealemann to wooby: some just grab whatever is convenient and use that. I correspond with some on several medium (email, DM, phone, person) at once.

Rebelcontent: DM's to be less efficient.

knealemann to joshchandler: some want to conduct business without it going on the company email server, as an example.

SuzeMuse: Everyone uses the media in a different way. It comes down to personal preference. I've been using skype video lots. I also think it depends how well you know the person. I've had plenty of meaningful text conversations.

I'll take face-to-face over every other portal, tool or gadget.

What is your preferred form of communication?

@knealemann
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