Wild Card!

I work for a company in Portland, but have not been able to work very much lately with school transportation costs. I worked for the company over the summer and felt the need to keep in contact with them as much as possible in order to transition into working there full time after I graduate. Now is the time of year when employees get their mid-year review. During the review a manager talks to you about your progress, and the manager and the employee discuss future goals.
In order for me to go through the mid-year review my manager sent me the form used for the meeting using email. She told me to look over the form and fill out certain areas. If I was in Portland she would have given me the form and I would have filled out certain areas and then met with her afterwards. We set a date for a phone interview to go over the material. We talked about the review over the phone, but not in incredible depth. I was able to work the following week so we had a formal review at that point.
The internet made this situation convenient. Instead of having to head back to Portland we were able to go through with the review using the internet and the telephone. The interview was not very efficient using the methods, but they worked nonetheless. My manager and I would have much preferred to do the interview in person to begin with, but the review needed to happen and the internet worked.
Although the internet worked, doing the review in person would have been much more effective. Physical interactions are much more effective because you can see how the other person is responding, and job reviews are an important time to see these cues. Being able to finish the review in person was important because I got a complete feel for how I am doing with the company. The lack of nonverbal communication on the internet and phone make for an incomplete way of communicating.
Wood and Smith talk about the divide with demographics and internet usage. They explain that certain races and social classes lag in internet usage. With email becoming a standard in businesses as well as schooling the lagging groups are definitely at a disadvantage. If I didn’t have internet access my manager might have thought that I was less capable. If I didn’t have the internet I would have been forced to come in in order to complete the review. The internet is the standard in the U.S. Wood and Smith also compare the internet to the television as far as being standard in households. The internet has become essential to society. People need to feel connected. I believe the loss of internet connection would create a similar response to those worrying about digital transition for televisions. As a society we need connection. Were we fine without the overwhelming connection before the internet? Yes. Would we be fine without the overwhelming connection if the internet was gone now? That is a tough one. As a society I believe we are addicted to connection, and I also believe that people without the internet are at a disadvantage in the eyes of the public. Personally I admire those people not tied to the internet. I compare them to people that don’t need caffeine to get their day going. I do need caffeine to get my day going, and I am becoming more dependent every day.

Advertisement