The Death of Conversation

Now just to let you know this post has zilch to do with design. More appropriately, it has to do with the art of communication - a lost art, or so it seems. Something I have noticed over the last few years is how people's attention spans have dwindled along with the manner in which they communicate with one another. I was watching an episode of The X-Files the other day and something one of the characters said rang true in this regard.

Afternoon talk shows and tabloid TV - they've reduced our attention span to the length of a sound bite... so that soon our ability to think will be as extinct as the rhinus venisefula frog. - The X-Files, Quagmire

For the uninitiated, the character is a environmental biologist and the rhinus venisefula frog is a species that is going extinct around this lake in the episode. I quote it here because it helps illustrate my point; with the invention of text-messaging, the Internet, and sundry other devices which require little to no intercommunication skills, we have lost touch with a simpler and more meaningful form of relating which once defined us as a species.

As a designer on the Internet I have seen this verbal extinction building over the years to plague proportions. From the time I bought my first computer and discovered Web-speak (LOL, BRB, TTFN, etc.) to walking through grocery aisles and seeing people with cell phones plastered to their faces as if they were born with the dang things attached there. It's quite unnerving, really. I used to joke that if I met someone on the street I couldn't say hello because I forgot to bring my keyboard. It isn't so funny anymore.

When I first started receiving e-mails from people who wanted me to do some manner of design work for them (usually for free) the context of their messages was rather disturbing. At most it usually consisted of one line with a complete disregard for grammar - "i ned a free grphc fer my website pleez." I seriously began to wonder what they were teaching our kids in school.

We have become linguistically lazy, a nation reliant on electronic devices to communicate for us, and when we do speak (or write) it's usually only a few words, if that. Now I'm just as guilty of this myself, but at the very least, even if I'm only going to write or speak a few words, I try to make it somewhat engaging. A personal pet peeve of mine is "dry-talk" - inane one-liners like How's the weather? or Nice day, isn't it? If you don't have anything more significant to say to me then, please, don't say anything at all. I can have more meaningful conversations with the wall in my apartment.

Ok, Mr. Strunk, so how can I be more engaging with just a few words? Easy. Like anything else we do it just takes a little effort. If you're making a logo design for a client you take the time to fit the essence of the company, image, and product into a small space; the same care should be taken even for small talk. Although it's a hectic world and few opportunities arise for any in-depth discussion (especially on the Web) you can at least take a moment to be more creative in what you are about to write or say to someone.

The whole point is to make our communication more personal. Whether it be a long discussion or the length of a sound bite. And perhaps with a little care and practice we can resurrect this lost verbal art form before it goes the way of the rhinus venisefula frog.

So what about you? Have you expanded your communication skills beyond two words? Do you care about what you say to others? Let's keep conversation off the endangered species list by offering a few kind and well-chosen words to others.

Try it today!