iExamen 1

Starting a Conversation

While analyzing the way I communicate, I realized that many people, including myself, would rather wait for others to initiate a conversation than start it themselves. However, when I was using my phone I would not hesitate to start a conversation over text or on snapchat. Face-to-face conversation can be a bit more intimidating than texting or using social media.

            Since smart phones have been popular, there has been a question if they have been making people less social in face-to-face situations. I never checked to see if I communicated differently with my phone or in a real conversation, but after Saturday I realized the difference. I felt much more comfortable talking on the phone compared to a face-to-face conversation. I always thought that I was the same in the two situations or I never saw a distinct difference in the way I communicated in them.

            During the time I was analyzing my face-to-face conversations, I had two situations where I did not initiate the conversation. The first was when I working at my desk assistant job in Flannery, a mother and father came in and were waiting for their daughter. The three of us were awkwardly sitting around the desk. I wanted to talk to them, but I felt uncomfortable starting the conversation, so I waited for them to start the conversation. The second was when I saw one of my friends at the Towson mall. We were walking past each other, we both saw each other, waiting for the other to stop so we could talk. I was looking to see if she was giving a signal to stop and she was doing the same thing with me. I was waiting because I did not want to start the conversation if she did not want to talk at the time. Both cases were uncomfortable for me because I did not initiate the conversation.

            After my hour of being technology free, it only took a few minutes for me to take a snapchat and send it to somebody. I had no hesitation in starting the conversation, the way I did when it was in person. In person I was concerned whether or not the other person wanted to talk to me, but over the phone I was not worried since I felt that they were not forced into a conversation. When I stop somebody to talk to them, I feel like I am making them stay when they did not want to talk to me.

            Through the analysis of the way I communicate, I learned that I rely on my phone to communicate much more than in-person conversations. I realized the difference that I had not before the assignment. The difference was more significant than I initially thought. My thoughts before I started were that I would communicate equally with the two, but now I know that I should work on my face-to-face communicating skills.