Coffee Talk #492: Modern Communications Methods and You

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Bill Simmons’ awesome NBA draft diary, the accuracy of Digitimes rumors, or your favorite steak sauce, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Communications has changed a ton in the last 15 years. At E3 2012, a PR veteran and I were talking about the days of sending/receiving press releases via fax and delivering screenshots on giant pieces of film. Staying with the dynamic between PR people and game writers provides a good roadmap for the evolution of modern communications. It’s pretty neat and I’d love to see if the same applies to “real” people like you.

I recall many flaks complaining about being unable to get journalists on the phone, but being able to get an email response in minutes. When email became more common, programs like AOL Instant Messenger became the easiest way to get in touch with game journalists. Even IM programs became too big; these days it’s pretty common for business to be done over Facebook messenger or Twitter direct messages.

Personally, I love Twitter DM exchanges; because of the nature of Twitter messages, the conversations are concise and stay on point. That said, I enjoy talking on the phone with people and strengthening connections that way. Email, AIM, Facebook, and Twitter are great, but the connections made actually speaking with people are irreplaceable.

How has communications evolved in your world? Do you do most of your business on the phone? Is email your primary method? Or are you more about IM, Facebook, and Twitter?

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

18 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #492: Modern Communications Methods and You”

      1. I blame my hatred of the phone on one of my ex-girlfriends, who would expect me to talk to her on the phone for hours after having just spent an entire weekend together and then complain that I didn't talk. I told you everything I had to say when you were HERE!!!

        ::facepalm::

        Needless to say, it didn't work out. Also, she was a lying, cheating whore, which was the real tipping point in the relationship.

    1. I'm the real anomaly. I still don't have a Facebook or Twitter account. Just have no interest. I still like talking on the phone.

      1. That makes two of us. I don't have a FB or Twitter account, either. In fact, I'm trying to get my wife OFF of Facebook.

        Not only is it an evil marketing scheme, but also, I'm not crazy about the fact that she keeps in "contact" with people from her past that have absolutely nothing to do with her future.

        -M

    1. Go get 'em, tiger! She lives close to you (somewhere in L.A.), right?

      Good luck on Mr. Cruise's sloppy seconds.

      -M

  1. I use texting the most, and phone calls barely edge out twitter, which is third. Email is really only used with my dad because he doesn't text and doesn't use the phone because he hasn't really been able to hear in the past couple months. Most of my emails are simply received and I don't need to reply to anything. A lot of times it's just the end result of a text or call. If I text my mom for something like a recipe, she will eventually send it in an email, but texting was still the main form of actual communication.

    I know some people who are different than this completely. A professor of mine strictly uses twitter for communication. He didn't send anything out through emails, it was all through twitter. In his home life he texts, and only feels comfortable talking on the phone to family members. Email was always a last resort for anything because when it came to turning in our work everything was done through online file sharing, or by uploading our work to Blackboard, and he would return edited copies of our work, along with grades, in the same way.

      1. It is amazing how so many people don't know there is this tiny little thing called deleting your text messages. An ex gf of mine had a stepbrother who didn't have his own cell phone, so he always used his grandmother's to text all these girls every night, but he never deleted his text messages. He would just leave them in the phone, and then wonder how anyone ever found out what he was saying to these girls. I can understand not being prepared for a random text, but deleting text messages is not that hard.

        </rant>

        I totally believe texting is the top way cheaters get caught, but that's also not surprising considering it is probably the most widely used form of communication. It's almost a little like saying the majority of shark attacks happen in water. If you cheat though, you deserve to get caught and whatever comes along with that.

  2. I was thinking about this topic recently, as I sometimes do, because I sometimes wish some people had twitter. It can be casual, or more formal/professional if you want, and I would be more likely to use it to talk to some people if they had one. There are some people who I would @ reply in a tweet, but feel awkward sending an email to or sending a message on facebook. The email just doesn't seem like the option I want to use to send a short message to unless it is someone I consistently talk to in other forms, and facebook has too much baggage along with it. If I message someone on facebook I feel like I have to have a longer conversation with them and actually catch up, and that isn't what's on my mind when I just want to send a brief message.

  3. Okay, so next week Playstation is having its summer sale, lots of PSN games on sale.

    Here are some of the deals….

    Closure – $10.49 PSN – $7.34 PS+
    Crysis – $13.99 PSN – $9.79 PS+
    Gotham City Impostors – – $10.49 PSN – $7.34 PS+ –
    The House of the Dead 3 – $4.89 PSN – $3.42 PS+ –
    Infamous Festival of Blood – $6.99 PSN – $4.89 PS+
    Jurassic Park – $13.99 PSN – $9.79 PS+
    Killzone 3 Multiplayer – $10.49 PSN – $7.34 PS+
    NBA Jam: On Fire Edition – $10.49 PSN – $7.34 PS+
    Real Steel – $6.99 PSN – $4.89 PS+
    Shadow of the Colossus HD – $13.99 PSN – $9.79 PS+
    Worms Ultimate Mayhem – $10.49 PSN – $7.34 PS+

    Im in for Shadow of the colossus HD and NBA Jam.

    The real reason I am posting this is because I have a 30 day code for PSN+ for anyone who isn't already a member. If you want any of these games at the PS+ price, let me know and I'll give you the code.

    1. Okay, that didnt post like I wanted it to.

      The first price is sale price, the second price is PS+ price.

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