This post started because of a phone call to one friend and a conversation with another. First, the story:
I picked up the phone the other day to call my best friend to tell her ‘I can’t talk right now, but I miss you and wanted you to know you were on my mind’. I told a friend (who will remain anonymous) about the phone call and she looked at me like I was crazy, and said ‘why didn’t you just send her a myspace message or email? Isn’t it kind of pointless to call someone to tell them you can’t talk?’.
Of course, being me, that got me thinking about the methods of conversation and why we choose what we do. I am a huge believer in social media and absolutely love my twitter and email (in fact I’ve been having a mini-meltdown for the last couple days because my laptop wasn’t picking up wireless at my office) but I don’t think I could handle not talking to at least one person a day via phone. Obviously there is the whole ‘personal connection’ part of a phone call, but for me, the telephone is also a creative outlet.
Again, I tried to explain that to my other girlfriend and she thought I was crazy – that a phone is no more creative than an email, tweet or myspace message. Actually she believes that the web is the more creative way to converse than the phone.
So, here’s my logic:
First, on the phone, you can’t take something back once you have said it. There is no spell check, no re-reading and definitely a much shorter period of time to think of a response. All manners of conversation on the web allow you to think about your response, for basically however long you would like. It allows you to type, re-word and re-think exactly what you are saying. Creativity (at least for me) gets a bit squished when you have an unlimited (or virtually unlimited) amount of time to think about what you are saying.
Second, the phone allows for immediate response with vocal inflection. There is no way to tell the tone that something is said online – which can mean that words come off more harsh, or in a wrong tone very easily. On the phone, it is much more difficult to hide how you really feel. Vocal inflections, tones of voice and speed changes are easy signs of what the person really thinks. This is supremely helpful when asking opinions on ideas – via the web they can ‘craft’ an answer. On the phone, you have to be honest (or be really creative and quick!).
Finally, the phone allows you to talk through an idea – jabbering on, and trying to work through the process is completely normal, and usually the listener is willing to offer constructive criticism right back.
Obviously this is only my opinion – so what do you think? Is the phone more creative than the internet? Which allows you the most creativity? Feel free to disagree 
!
Related posts:
- Do you treat your clients like people?
- 4 people in your life that can make you more creative
- Phone number without an answer isn’t customer service
Kirsten
