DCC Capstone '21
The Letter Writing Experience
As part of this capstone I asked participants to engage in at least three modes of communication, one of which was to be letter writing. The other two modes of communication were up to the participants and their partner and may include: social media, messaging apps, email, phone calls, or video calls. Through a series of surveys I measured their usage of technology and creativity throughout their experience in the pandemic and this project.
Communication Mediums Before the Pandemic
The most used forms of communication before the pandemic were in person contact and social media. (see charts below).
Communication Mediums During the Pandemic
Towards the middle of the pandemic, when I sent out my first survey, the most popular forms of communication were social media and video calling, while in person communication dropped, as expected with quarantine and social distancing guidelines. (top set of charts).
​
In the last survey, 4 months later some changes in technology usage has occurred. As per usual, social media was a popular choice for communication. There was a rise in text messaging and in person communication. The most likely reason for the rise in in-person communication is because of the distribution of vaccines as well as health and safety guidelines that allowed them to meet up (ie wearing masks, gathering in small groups outside, etc). (bottom set of charts).
What We Value in Communication
Popular answers included quick responses and being able to see and/or hear the person.
Another value that was repeated among the participants was being able to effectively communicate their thoughts and feelings while feeling a connection to their partner.
One participant also valued having free flowing conversations, to be able to talk about a variety of topics.
​
From these responses I think it's no surprise that the most used technologies were social media, text messaging and video calling. Text messages allows people to quickly and casually chat while video calling fulfills the desire to see and hear the other person. Social media is the odd one out in terms of fulfilling the values discussed, but the high rate of use may be attributed to this generations increased use of social media in general. While we're on these platforms it's very easy to talk to each other via comments or DMs, though it may not be of the same depth or topics as conversing via other communication technologies.
Reflection and Moving Forward
Moving forward I think it'd be interesting to investigate specifically the political and social impacts due to most communication happening via technology (mostly social media) - specifically with the 2020 election campaigns and BLM protests being prominent events that occurred.
