In between finishing up Part 2 of the BenQ write-up I started, I’ve promised myself (to no avail) that I would pen down some thoughts on the miracle that is the whatsapp voice note. There’s a little bit more to this than promoting an app feature but it sort of all started there. I read a tweet today where someone in the space talked about their relationship with Skype and the thoughts came flooding back to me.
Given the industry that we work in, it’s often so rare that we can talk to the people we need to face to face. Esports is truly one of the most internet-reliant industries out there. I sometimes think that there may be a correlation between the widespread, low-cost availability of cheap internet in a country to the numbers of pro-gamers. I’ve got no research to back that up. For now, it’s just a passing thought you should probably disregard given the lack of factual evidence.
I now see Skype as a necessity to do business instead of just another tool to call my mum or dad back home. Esports has changed my entire relationship with how much value I place on the tools we use to communicate with others around the world.
Long live the telephone. Who really picks up the phone to dial an overseas number these days?
Esports business is pretty much solely conducted through Skype, with Discord now sort of breaking through and rising in popularity. It’s all about picking up a line, speaking to another person who knows who you are and what purpose you are calling for (not always the case). It doesn’t feel the same as picking up the phone to call someone because you’re often plugged into headphones and a mic.. it’s still very intriguing for me to be conscious of what I’m doing before I jump on a Skype call. It’s always felt weird.
So much so that I actively stopped using Skype many months ago. I’ve left my email contact in my description and I will only go on Skype if all other communication fails. It’s now a last resort whereas it used to be the only resort.
Aaaand.. Whatsapp voice notes.
The voice-note will be sort of familiar to people who play games with some key differences. Because you are recording your voice as a clip to send to someone else, you’re essentially not able to actively be aware of what the other person is doing, their gestures, their tone, etc. The voice note that comes back is defined by a set amount of time and you can play this over and over again to your hearts content. Often, I’ll try to play my own voice-notes and cringe at how weird it is to hear my voice at the touch of a play button.
The voice-note is sort of like what would happen if you were giving a speech completely blindfolded and in a silent room where you’d feel a visual cue before someone else is able to speak , gesture or remark. It’s pretty eerie when described that way but it very much feels like that.
On the flip side, it’s efficient. Recording sound-bites forces you to reduce your message down as much as you can and the other person is then free to send over a suitable response in their own time. They’ve responded to your message, verbal cues, tonality and all at their own convenience.
It is pretty incredible how mindful the voice-note makes you of each other’s time.
And that’s why I love it.
Traditional Phone and VOIP apps force you to have a level of engaging conversation in a set amount of time when you sometimes don’t need to. Nothing replaces a face to face discussion (especially I feel when it comes to creative discussions), but for quick items that are easier said than written, the whatsapp voice-note is a God-send. It’s really just that good.
And yes, you do need to give up your mobile number to facilitate this phenomenally time-respectful communication medium..
Nothing’s perfect right?