Modern Technology: Humanizing our smartphones

The majority of how we communicate with our smartphones is done via text. It’s quick, easy, there are GIF’s, pictures and screen shots that can add some flavour to text messages.
For me, I’ve grown weary of strictly texting as for me, it’s one-dimensional.
I found myself languished with only texting in late 2020 and starting to not reply as often. It started feeling hollow and draining to see the blue or green text bubbles constantly lighting up my phone.
I live alone, I work from home and with the lockdown, I couldn’t visit anyone to get my fix of human interaction.
Instead, I broadened my communication scope and utilized the tools my smartphone was equipped with.
While it’s certainly not the same as in person interactions, the three methods listed here can enhance and humanize smartphone communication until we return to a new modern world, whenever and whatever that is.

Audio messages
Until the pandemic, I’d hadn’t used this feature because there were no restrictions on human interaction. With isolation, lockdowns and multiple waves, it wasn’t easy to flip from being able to see anyone at anytime to having strong (yet necessary) restrictions in place.
I’ve always been a social person who’s been enthralled with the human voice and vocal communication. I enjoy conversations with others, hearing the inflections, contour, timbre and tonality of their voices. I was born in 1978 and grew up without cell/smart phones - all of my early communication was done primarily in person, save for a landline rotary dial telephone.

“I communicated the same information that I would have via text; there was no filter or adjustments made there. And I found the messaging/conversations were clearer as text messages can have too much room for interpretation.”

I started using audio messages via iPhone last autumn as while living alone has its benefits, it can also become deafeningly quiet.
No one in my world had ever sent me an audio message so my first test was with a close friend after I’d asked them if it was ok..boundaries, boundaries, boundaries.
After a few exchanges, I texted a few more friends to ask them and then that circle expanded.
The benefit for me was that I could hear their voices and felt a stronger connection to the conversation and them opposed to simply reading words in a grey text bubble.
I communicated the same information that I would have via text; there was no filter or adjustments made there. And I found the messaging/conversations were clearer as text messages can have too much room for interpretation.
It also got rid of the dreaded “lazy” texting of U, K, OMG, LOL.

The drawback is that response times can be longer as the recipient may not be in a place where they can hear your audio note.
Or they may not be interested in speaking at the time - which is absolutely understandable.
We communicate differently given the situation, location, feeling and mood.

Overall, I’ve felt a resurgence in human connection via audio messages and will continue doing so (with permission, of course) in the post-pandemic world.

Video messages
Most of us are tired of video calls. Between work, family, friends and the peculiar world of modern dating, it’s become a bit much. Actually, it’s become a lot much.
I use video messages in conjunction with text and audio messages as it’s an easy way to visually aid your message.
For example…if I’m texting someone about what I’m making for dinner, I can share a short 20 second video showing the amount of ingredients I’m using and how cute my two cats, Jellie and Miles, are being at the same time.

“Video messages aren’t meant to replace video calls; it’s simply enhancing a text/audio message. ”

Or if I’m audio messaging Claudia about how the weather in Mississauga varies from hers in Vancouver, I’ll take a short video of my back yard.
If there’s something wrong with my car, I can send a short video to my mechanic.
If I wrote a new song, I can send the band a video clip of the guitar/piano/drum part to get the writing process started.
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, video is worth at least quadruple that.
Video messages aren’t meant to replace video calls; it’s simply enhancing a text/audio message.

The drawback is that it can eat up a lot of storage space on messages with several video clips.
Flip these up to the cloud as a solution.

Phone call
It requires the most effort but yields the highest engagement between participants.
Schedules have to be coordinated, there has to be minimal distractions (cooking, watching the kids, homework, driving, etc.,) but if it can be done, there’s nothing quite like a real time conversation.
I’ll ask before I call someone because I know that phone calls aren’t everyone’s preferred medium.
Phone calls don’t have to be marathon events; they can be succinct as in some cases, a two-minute phone call conveys more clarity than a long exchange of text messages.

The drawback is finding schedules that fit.
The solution is to text them to ask when a good time is.

Do you use any of the aforementioned methods to enhance your digital communication?