Have you noticed? Lately online it is all about “conversation”. It’s the new buzzword in town that shall be listed in Vogues Great Guide Of Words To Drop @ The Next CocktailParty (have you noticed the “@”?). Conversation online. In social media. Because, you know, nomen est omen: it is about conversing with people, having a chat with attitude, talk on steroids. Bidirectional swapping of digital thoughts. Dialogue for the brainy ones :-).
Now, do not get me wrong. I’m all for it. I love “conversing” online, swapping witty reflections with notorious clever people with a laser sharp vision. I love the gentle battle of like wired minds, the old jousting with rock solid arguments.
Mind you, I do enjoy intercultural reflections on life, the universe, everything, even with people I only know as a slightly silly, greenish one eyed Avatar.
But what bothers me lately is that some virtual nitwits these days position it as a “sine qua non” for digital presence; as a “must do”. As a “have to”.
I hate “have to’s”. I listen to everyone. Most is not interesting, short of even vaguely amusing. Some is nice. Some is intriguing. Some triggers desire to engage, comment, swap, battle, encourage…. I gladly succumb to these feelings…. Because I want to. Not because some digital guru with a fan club thinks it is a wise thing to do.
You’re seduced in a conversation, invited into one, sweet talked into one, maybe even bribed into one… but never ever forced into one 😉
Conversing is an art form of connecting, persuading, pairing up. You have a conversation going on, or not. There is no grey zone. It’s a war on my terms 😉
So you, conversation manager, better be a darn good artist….
“Conversation should be with people who give a rip what you have to say, not just anyone with a frontal lobe”
🙂
Very much in phase with the unforced, genuine “will” to engage conversation versus a “must do”, super-Ace card asset to play on an online presence. If some nitwits don’t, I trust people will… see, sniff, feel the difference.
Conversation is above all a very human thing, an authentic connector to emotions and words that make us more people than strategy, like “care”, or “empathy”… It goes further than a systematic response back to a Tweet (although it is OK to be nice and polite, “if” and only if you mean it). It goes beyond who you are (fancy title vs silly avatar) or what you do (sell for billions vs give Ice Cream away), up to the true nature of your intentions.
PS: Very nice picture! I like the perspective of the rails never touching still showing the way and the transversality of the conversation.