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Is Conversation Becoming the Next Dinosaur?

Scott Asai asked this question in a recent article on Daily Blogma’s Business Blog. He said that “social media and other forms of technological communication strip away the ability to have a decent face to face conversation.” It is a very interesting question.

The more I thought about it, I ended up with conflicting opinions. On one hand, I agree with what Scott says and the great points he makes in the article. My inner devil’s advocate (does everyone have one of those or just me?) on the other hand, wonders if technology may actually help people refine their communication skills. After all, social media and technology do allow us to communicate with infinitely more people on a daily basis than we would be able to “in-person.”

Here is an example of this theory:  Before I became the social media and networking nut I am today, I really only attended a handful of face-to-face networking events each year, and I was pretty uncomfortable speaking to and/or networking with people.  I went anyway because it is such an important part of growing your business.  A few years ago when I jumped into the online world of business networking.  After only a few months of networking with hundreds of people online and non-stop communication with people from many different backgrounds, I became completely at ease speaking with others. It doesn’t matter if it is virtually or face-to-face, speaking to one person or one thousand – I am comfortable.

Is this because of the experience and ‘practice’ I received with the help of technology and social media OR in spite of it?  I’m not sure…

I would love to hear what you think.  Is technology and social media helping us by adding additional platforms by which to reach out to a greater number of people or is it hindering our ability to communicate effectively?  Is Conversation Becoming the Next Dinosaur?

You can also read Scott’s article here.