Online communication has become a part and parcel of my life. For me, the internet is not only a medium, but is also my workplace. And it’s not just because I work remotely, but also because I work on the web and on open source technologies (WordPress) that help create the internet as we know it. In other words, a majority of my communication is online.
For work, I communicate using a bunch of tools such as Slack (for synchronous text-based communication with colleagues) and P2 blogs (for long form communication). Since I work on the WordPress open source project, a lot of my work is out in the open, where I use both these tools belonging to the WordPress project (Make/WordPress Blogs, and the WordPress Slack) for communication. I also have a bunch of synchronous video calls using tools such as zoom in my line of work.
At work,I prefer a style of asynchronous communication. I am used to it and I prefer it a lot. I work with folks all over the world and it is very hard to have synchronous live conversations with a colleague on the other side of the world (because, time zones). So I default to asynchronous communication. In other words, I may not get immediate replies for my messages or I may not be able to reply immediately to the messages I get, and that’s okay (and expected). Of course, for urgent needs, our teams try to communicate faster.
In my personal life, I use tools such as a WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage for most of my communication needs with friends. I do video calls with close family members very rarely too. These days, I am a bit tardy with phone calls though. It used to be a favorite form communication in past, but over the past few months (especially since the turn of events in 2023), I am finding it difficult to have phone conversations. I am still not 100% sure why, something I am trying to figure out this year.
Speaking of communication, my favorite form of communication is not online. It is very much offline, and in-person. Nothing beats a face-to-face, in-person conversation, as I had shared a few days back in this blog.
In 2024, I hope to find more in-person time with my friends, something I missed dearly during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021!
This post was written as part of the Bloganuary challenge of WordPress.com. Bloganuary is a month-long challenge, where bloggers are challenged to write a new blog post every day, based on a daily writing prompt. You will need a WordPress.com account to get the prompts, but you can blog on any platform of your choice – OR even journal privately. Oh btw, there is no bloganuary police – so you can pick your own prompts if you wish to!
Hari Shanker R 
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