10/09/2018

How to Connect with People Virtually, Part 1

In the virtual world, trust is more fragile and human connections are more brittle

In the virtual world, trust is more fragile and human connections are more brittle than they are in the face-to-face world. For every road warrior who loves managing her life with a couple of gadgets from the airport, there are thousands of workers who feel less motivated to do their best, customers who are ready to jump to a rival brand and virtual teams that are barely getting the job done. That’s because their commitment to the work, the product or the project is less profound and deep than it would be if there were a face-to-face relationship at stake.

Why do humans feel the lack of that kind of connection and commitment so deeply, and respond with less than their full humanity? How can you strengthen online human connections – if you can? And what should you be thinking about when you communicate virtually? Let’s explore.

When the first dot-com bubble was expanding, and everyone was trying to figure out how the Internet was going to change the world, no one foresaw the advent of social media in the way that it has exploded in the last decade. Amazon was still just a bookstore, Facebook wasn’t even born yet, and laptops required extra batteries, large briefcases, and an absurd amount of cords and plugs to keep them going. It was a primitive time.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Public Words.