Posted By admin on May 23, 2010

Did you realize that there are companies out there who have a staff person solely dedicated to maintaining their social media presence? It’s true and I’m not sure how I feel about that.  You see, while I understand that this is oftentimes necessary these days, there’s something about it that really troubles me…

I admit that I’m “old school”.  (But certainly not old!)  And I began my career back in the days before the Internet and social media were king and queen of the world.  “Back in my day,” as they say, if we wanted to contact a colleague, business partner or potential client, we called them on the telephone.  Odd, huh?

Sure, we also mailed letters and sent faxes, but the phone call was almost always the first method we used for reaching out — and I’m glad.

You see, with that phone call I got to know the person in a way that social media, and even email, simply do not allow.

I could hear joy, displeasure, or nonchalance in their speaking voices.

I could tell by their tones what about our conversation they found exciting and what was boring them to death.

I could “hear” them laugh, smile, and groan.  And no matter what anyone tells you, no matter of exclamation points or smiley faces or “LOLs” or frowning faces can replace that.

I dare to say that those telephone conversations were a lot more honest and spontaneous than the edited and re-edited messages we get through social media and email.

So while I understand and greatly appreciate the power of social media, I also continue to respect the power of the phone call.  Do you?  Let’s talk about it…

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