online
aug 2
2008

Communication Breakdown

NYT: Don't Want to Talk About It? Order a Missed Call. The story uses SlyDial, a service that allows you to leave a voicemail without letting the person hear their phone ring, to set up a thesis about "tools that let users avoid direct communication." Clever thesis, but it rubs dangerously close to falling apart when it cites other tools (including Twitter and Facebook) which create more direct communication, not less.
3 comments

maybe "direct" should be "forcefully received" and it'd make sense. there's less communication that takes place instantly between two active parties; it's more one person communicating and the other getting around to listen when they feel like it.

posted by yep at 2008-08-03 13:15:47

Yes and no. On the face of it, those look like "micro-broadcast" media, but inevitably, in a way that is a little unmeasurable, they create more person communication.

posted by Rex at 2008-08-03 13:25:04

Yeah. I don't see how twitter, facebook, et al are any less asynchronous than intentional voicemail. To me, they, like webjournals and tumblrs, fit into part of the same trendpiece.

posted by josh at 2008-08-03 17:47:48