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June 1, 2012
conversation (n.)
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about how we start, fuel, and lead conversations in our very speedy plugged-in age of the interwebs. There seems to be more and more emphasis on being a conversation-starter and engaged participant, especially if you're trying to extend your reach, communicate a (brand) mandate, and become someone of influence (online, at least).
I can remember a time, however, when conversations used to only happen with schoolmates at recess, with parents around the dinner table, with friends on the phone... on busses and in line-ups, and with neighbours and people whom you could touch and see.
Today, I start to consider how easily I've adjusted to this new nuance of conversation - and though I am quite a bit surprised, I shouldn't be - at least according to the online etymology dictionary:
Stemming from the mid-14th century definition, a conversation pertains to "living together, having dealings with (con-) others (versus)" and also refers to the "manner of conducting oneself in the world."
From one standpoint, it's bang-on, even today, as the spaces in which we converse with one another change.
I do have my reservations however; the thought of us "living together" in a virtual space, or accepting that "the world" in which we conduct ourselves is one that lacks face-to-face interactions, is a bit startling.
Not until the 1570s was a conversation understood to be a "talk." And before that it was used as a synonym for "sexual intercourse" (hence criminal conversation became the legal term for adultery). It seems we're somehow moving further and further away from touching each other when it comes to conversing!
With its increased presence in the the online space, and as its form changes, can a conversation's intimate and emotive aspects be reclaimed or preserved? I fear a world in which we perceive conversations as modes of 'influence' on each other, where instead of conversing with one another, we speak (and tweet) at each other.
I think we have to reclaim the old conversation - and not by rejecting its evolution as technology advances. But rather, by reminding ourselves that to have a conversation means a lot more than feeding your opinions and agendas into various channels hoping they spur a reaction for your own benefit and "ROI". It's about being "with" someone, on some kind of less media-dependent level. This should also sometimes mean actually being with someone, especially if long distances don't force you apart.
And don't get me wrong; I'm all for vast and varied communications and celebrating the fact that for the first time in human history, we have an ever-growing chunk of the world at our fingertips with which to connect and converse - and "deal with". We've never had the kinds of global networks that we do now, and I, in no way, wish to undermine the significance and advantages of that phenomenon. I just want to have us be reminded of what I wanted us to be reminded of the last time I decided to give an online lecture about what it means to be connected.
I also wanted to have us consider that in order to build influence online, it helps (and it may be healthier) to practice actually having some in the real world. (Perfectly slicing fruit doesn't make you a ninja and being awesome at Fruit Ninja doesn't really mean much, unless you're a ninja (because that's just delicious irony). And creating the perfect persona online doesn't make you any more perfect - it just makes your friends sad, apparently.)
And with that I leave you, world.
*Disclaimer: I may either be posting very enlightened thoughts or exhibiting pure idiocy - both common symptoms of sleepiness and exhaustion.
I can remember a time, however, when conversations used to only happen with schoolmates at recess, with parents around the dinner table, with friends on the phone... on busses and in line-ups, and with neighbours and people whom you could touch and see.
Today, I start to consider how easily I've adjusted to this new nuance of conversation - and though I am quite a bit surprised, I shouldn't be - at least according to the online etymology dictionary:
Stemming from the mid-14th century definition, a conversation pertains to "living together, having dealings with (con-) others (versus)" and also refers to the "manner of conducting oneself in the world."
From one standpoint, it's bang-on, even today, as the spaces in which we converse with one another change.
I do have my reservations however; the thought of us "living together" in a virtual space, or accepting that "the world" in which we conduct ourselves is one that lacks face-to-face interactions, is a bit startling.
Not until the 1570s was a conversation understood to be a "talk." And before that it was used as a synonym for "sexual intercourse" (hence criminal conversation became the legal term for adultery). It seems we're somehow moving further and further away from touching each other when it comes to conversing!
With its increased presence in the the online space, and as its form changes, can a conversation's intimate and emotive aspects be reclaimed or preserved? I fear a world in which we perceive conversations as modes of 'influence' on each other, where instead of conversing with one another, we speak (and tweet) at each other.
And don't get me wrong; I'm all for vast and varied communications and celebrating the fact that for the first time in human history, we have an ever-growing chunk of the world at our fingertips with which to connect and converse - and "deal with". We've never had the kinds of global networks that we do now, and I, in no way, wish to undermine the significance and advantages of that phenomenon. I just want to have us be reminded of what I wanted us to be reminded of the last time I decided to give an online lecture about what it means to be connected.
I also wanted to have us consider that in order to build influence online, it helps (and it may be healthier) to practice actually having some in the real world. (Perfectly slicing fruit doesn't make you a ninja and being awesome at Fruit Ninja doesn't really mean much, unless you're a ninja (because that's just delicious irony). And creating the perfect persona online doesn't make you any more perfect - it just makes your friends sad, apparently.)
And with that I leave you, world.
*Disclaimer: I may either be posting very enlightened thoughts or exhibiting pure idiocy - both common symptoms of sleepiness and exhaustion.
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