Preferred type of communication

What type of communication method do you prefer

  • Postal Service

    Votes: 3 4.9%

  • Email

    Votes: 40 65.6%

  • Text

    Votes: 11 18.0%

  • Phone Call and Leave Voicemail

    Votes: 7 11.5%
  • Total voters
    61
John221us

John221us

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So, it seems every time communication methods evolve, a few people talk about how rude the new method is. My grandma said it was rude to call in a thank you. You have to send a hand written letter. Now days, you are lucky to get a text or email. Clearly this poll is too simple, as each type of communication has its place.
 
For a thank-you I might be a bit old fashioned as I do think it should be written. But I've no problem at all with electronic communication thereof.
 
Depends what the communication is. Legal and social correspondence are still made by postal mail or in person. In fact, most social correspondence should be hand written on blank paper. Preprinted "Thank You" and RSVP are a social bane. The latter stemming from the fact that people are too inconsiderate to respond otherwise, but the etiquette folks will tell you, two wrongs don't necessarily make a right.

Text is fine to let people know in an asynchronous way of something fleeting (telling the wife I'm leaving the office now, or passing some other insignificant fact that doesn't entail an interruption).

Email works for most business and casual correspondence. However, electronic media doesn't obviate the need for being polite and using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In fact, I expect more with all the tools that are available, not less. I'll accept some abbreviated fragments in text, but use sentences if you're emailing me!
 
John221us said:
My grandma said it was rude to call in a thank you. You have to send a hand written letter.
Click to expand...
Your grandmother is 100% right. Either express your appreciation in person or write pen-on-paper letter Email, text, phone messages, are NOT acceptable.
It's once in a blue moon that I get a letter from someone under my age in thanks. A few children do which either means that they have excellent upbringing or they've realized that a polite response begets better considerations on the part of the giver next time around.
 
John221us said:
My grandma said it was rude to call in a thank you. You have to send a hand written letter.
Click to expand...
Your grandmother is 100% right. Either express your appreciation in person (and only then if it's a separate visit from when the gift is presented) or write pen-on-paper letter Email, text, phone messages, are NOT acceptable.
It's once in a blue moon that I get a letter from someone under my age in thanks. A few children do which either means that they have excellent upbringing or they've realized that a polite response begets better considerations on the part of the giver next time around.
 
flyingron said:
Your grandmother is 100% right. Either express your appreciation in person or write pen-on-paper letter Email, text, phone messages, are NOT acceptable.
It's once in a blue moon that I get a letter from someone under my age in thanks. A few children do which either means that they have excellent upbringing or they've realized that a polite response begets better considerations on the part of the giver next time around.
Click to expand...

I'll try to find a link to the relevant quote, but there was an individual in the 1800s who complained that the ease of sending hand-written letters thanks to the new postal service (pony-express) would cause communication to lose meaning. Hand-written thank you notes are NOT acceptable; a thank-you should always be made in person.

Personally, I look at a "thank you"'s sincerity based on whether the message was truly gracious given knowledge of the sender's personality.

From some people a hand-written "Thank You" card is their default response and means little. For some individuals, this can be huge; I'll know that someone who never sends out hand-written cards really went out of their way to say thanks.

From some of my friends a text message saying "Hey man, thanks a lot for that. We really appreciated it," can be better than receiving a card. If they're a habitual card-sender, this text message means they're stepping aside from their typical response to specifically tell me thanks.
 
John221us said:
So, it seems every time communication methods evolve, a few people talk about how rude the new method is. My grandma said it was rude to call in a thank you. You have to send a hand written letter. Now days, you are lucky to get a text or email. Clearly this poll is too simple, as each type of communication has its place.
Click to expand...

Wow, in my family (the old school people) they would be absolutely jizzed over a call, and it ranks above a letter. Unfortunately, they are technically challenged and can't seem to make the whole email thing work despite my efforts to preconfigure laptops with virus and malware protection, etc...

Outside of the family context, email is #1 for general purpose. It can fill the same mission a simple text does, as well as provide a means for delivering formal business documentation, just short of legal process.
 
Apache123 said:
I'll try to find a link to the relevant quote, but there was an individual in the 1800s who complained that the ease of sending hand-written letters thanks to the new postal service (pony-express) would cause communication to lose meaning. Hand-written thank you notes are NOT acceptable; a thank-you should always be made in person.
Click to expand...

I find that hard to believe in the classical society. The regular post predates the pony express by centuries, and the pony express was a service limited to a area of the American west.

Thank you notes are very much rooted in the 18th century or earlier.
 
I remember an episode of the TV show "Seinfeld" where one of the minor points of discussion during the show was that a friend's parent (or someone) had died. They were debating whether a condolence call on a cell phone would be rude, compared to a call on a landline phone! The idea was that calling on a cell phone implied that you were out and about and too busy to make a "proper" call from home.

Of course, that was when hardly anybody only had a cell phone.

Seems like a quaint argument now though.

I guess that episode would have been close to 20 years ago now.
 
Depends by who and how important the information:

1. business contacts by email
2. advertising contacts and follow ups by snail mail so I can keep copies if I am interested and not waste my ink to print it out.
3. call by my grand daughter, son.
4. email or text by most family and friends.
5. I really prefer no phone calls they always seem to be an intrusion unless its my granddaughter and the world stops for her.

When I initiate contact:

1. email or text followed by a phone call if the first two are ignored.
2. Complaints by email or letter sometimes both.
3. some things have to be inquired by phone and wait for those idiots on the other end like when you are miss billed or not credited correctly.
 
I prefer email, as I am frequently (sometimes months at a time) out of contact with the digitally connected world.

If I'm in the USA, it depends on the message:

  • If it's something I would consider urgent or an emergency, a phone call is best. In the event of an emergency and I'm not able to answer the phone or I'm out of cellphone range, send a text and I'll receive and respond as soon as I'm back in range.
  • If it's a social occasion, and I'm not up to my eyeballs in business, call me. If I'm not able to answer the phone, leave a voicemail and I'll call you back. Especially if you're an old friend or loved one that I haven't spoken with in a while. Text on a computer screen will never replace the sound of your voice in my ear.
  • If you're a salesman and you're getting back to me about something that I initiated contact with you about, send an email, unless I've told you (or it's obvious) that it's urgent - in which case I will have provided you with my cellphone number.
  • If you're a salesman and you are contacting me from a cold call list, send an email. It's the easiest way for me to filter your crap out of my life.
  • If you're a salesman and it's the middle of winter, send me a letter via postal mail. I chop my own wood and kindling, but it helps if I have paper to get the fire started.
 
Anything except the postal service. But I don't send or receive much communication, either personal or business.
 
The telephone has become a pariah, thanks to the advent of the PPI data spewing/broadcasting DNC and the resulting telemarket cabal and caller ID spoofing
 
I imagine every time social norms evolve some people will tend to cling to the old method as being civilized.

I do not, will not ever send a thank you note. The idea is dumb IMO. If you give me something then great. That shouldn't cost me effort. I'm not saying I won't thank you, but I'm not trucking out to Office Max to get stationary and drafting some sentiment. I'll call you or email you and let you know I got it and thank you.

In addition, I'd never in a million years expect a thank you note. Who am I to force you to do something by giving you a gift? Wouldn't a better gift be expecting nothing from you?
 
Kinda like why I wouldn't really expect to receive a couple of goats in exchange for granting marital permission.
 
Personally, I prefer text or e-mail. But since becoming a CFI, I've learned that not everybody is like me! :)

I have learned that you have to fit your communication methods to your customers. When I first meet them, I ask about how they prefer to be contacted.

Some say text.
Some say e-mail.
Some explicitly say "no text".
Some want a phone call.
Haven't had any that only want to communicate via Facebook message, but if they did, I suppose I would too.

I will admit that sometimes I have to think for a minute - "Okay, I need to send Joe something about his upcoming lesson. Was he a text-only guy?" But I figure it out quickly, and it's not that often.

I imagine that this is similar to any profession where you are in constant personal contact with customers.
 
I'm text & email as much as possible, but I'm VERY hard of hearing so....


:D
 
Don't forget that emails leave a trail.

Off the options listed, only phone calls have the potential for limiting the trail exposure, especially if you talk to a live person.
 
Good point - that can be an issue sometimes. We actually have formal training in what should and should not be put in an email, and how to phrase responses to things that are better not discussed in email.
 
The poll may be simple, and each type of communication has it's place, but the poll is still valid as it asks your "preferred" method.
I prefer E-Mail.
There are times when snail mail is most appropriate, but that is not my preference.
The same goes for texting or a phone call/voice mail.
But I still prefer email. you can get more information in the message. There is documentation. And most importantly, I don't hear well so I hate the telephone.
 
The strawman in the pole is a "thank you". Thank you's for things more than holding doors or other cursory politeness requires GENUINE COMMUNICATION not just what is casually convenient for the sender. Pen to paper, a personal visit, or even (shudder) well thought electronic communication (though I think even this is shirking). A message crammed into 140 characters or less sent while you are waiting for dinner to arrive is NOT.
 
I don't write many letters, myself. I think the only thing propping up the US Postal service is junk mail, which I too use for kindling (since I don't get a physical newspaper anymore). I often want a documented communication trail, so I use email for that, though Lync IM archives to my email inbox (IM wasn't in the poll, but ironically installing corporate IM is one of the things I do for a living).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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