For the month of November, I shared a small social experiment with a few friends where our messages, which would ordinarily be text-based, were strictly audio. Why? I think I wanted to deepen the human connection I had with people. And I wanted to test how comfortable I could become sending voice notes, and whether it would meaningfully change how I communicate. The rules were simple:
- no text messages
- images, video, and audio allowed
- web links allowed
- emoji reactions allowed
Quite simple, really. So I was curious how this would go. One of the people I shared this experience with was Manu. The result was quite interesting, actually. On balance, we communicated less that month than we would normally, but I think that’s partly down to how we each treat an audio message relative to text. Audio feels more considered, more intentional, and typically more comprehensive.
But as neither of us are used to sending audio on the daily, there was probably an element of self-consciousness too. I know I had to re-record my messages a bunch of times because I either lost my train of thought, or found myself filling gaps with “umms” and “ehs”, which I hate myself for doing. Note to self: embrace the silent gaps to think.
Ultimately, I think I still communicate better through text, but that’s not necessarily permanent. It’s simply because I’m not used to sending voice notes. The more I do it, the more natural it’ll feel. The better the flow. The more confidence I’ll have. So the outcome is that from this point on, I’m going to mix things up. With everyone. Some text, some audio. And who knows? Maybe I’ll start sending short video clips too. Oh the humanity.
In all seriousness, our modes of communication should be as diverse as our personalities.