I know that, in blogging, you’re supposed to “change your content” regularly but following such a directive can be an empty exercise.
I would love to think that someone else might be interested in reading what I might jot down here, but I don’t really have any illusions about it. While I might fancy making money as a blogger, that desire is not the reason why I write here. I don’t want recognition, although it would be nice. I don’t necessarily even want to be right, although I would love the change to be proven wrong. I am mainly here because I can be, it’s central, and I like to think, and occasionally write down those thoughts.
What I caught myself thinking tonight was in the context of having an email conversation, although the same idea could be applied equally to Twitter “conversations.” I’m focused on the notion of a conversation because it is a measurable artifact of who we are, and I am presently architecting a solution to the problem of being able to track and make sense of your networks of communication. As a side-note that’s probably not totally unrelated, I’m also working up an idea for a website called dadrage.com; an aggregator of authentic conversations about being a father.
All that aside, what I wanted to say is that I really enjoy the re-emergence of the type of conversation that used to take place through the postal service in the form of letters. Email is so much simpler and immediate, so the delays aren’t nearly as long, but the fact is the rules remain the same, and I think people are starting to recognize this. Unlike the telephone system of conversations, if someone doesn’t email us back in four days, we might wonder for a moment, but will probably let it go at for ten days before following up or jumping to conclusions.
I like this first of all because it allows us some to time to take in what was said to us, which may leads to a more carefully constructed response, which is the second thing like like about this pace of conversation.
The rules of escalation are pretty straightforward. If you need an immediate response, use a medium where that is possible: the telephone network. Short of that, you’ve just got got to sweat out the wait. Like your mom says, it’s probably good for you.
Third thing: the refinement of patience.
Fourth thing, building on the previous three: More authentic relationships.
I know that last is kind of an escalation of sorts, and probably violates principle number three, but it’s really an order-of-magnitude evolution, and should be treated as such.
In blogging, you’re also supposed to have a well-crafted structure, with a rousing conclusion. Sorry. It’s just a random jot.
