Reclaiming Conversation

What’s left of the art of conversation when you have been brought up in a world of emails, SMSs and other instant messaging tools? Remote communication tools not only allow us to better communicate remotely, they also modify our relationships—even with our closed ones. Who has never seen two teenagers chatting through SMS while they are standing next to each other or two co-workers exchange via email while they are sitting at neighboring desks? These tools also create a form of addiction: the younger ones no longer know how to stay alone. They need to feel constantly connected. This is an issue when considering that solitude is part of the time necessary to the construction of the self. The author reviews the impact of this new culture on family, friendly and professional relations. Two chapters particularly caught our attention: the “Solitude” chapter explains how the always-connected factor can negatively affect the development of our own personality, but also how the format itself of these net or SMS exchanges prevents the development of the empathy and listening capacities that are enabled by face-to-face conversations. The “Work” chapter studies the impact of some of the drifts deriving from the “always connected” culture on the performance at work.