An Argument for Voice Notes
I was once interviewing someone for a book. I emailed them a question and they emailed back their answer in a voice note. They prefaced the voice note by explaining they always gave answers in voice notes because it was (1) slightly faster than typing and (2) much faster than all the pleasantries and extra questions that go into a phone call.
It’s sort of brilliant–especially timewise. It makes it harder to find information in the future (I just needed to open every audio email he sent me in order to find one fact) but in the moment, I could hear tone of voice, the way he paused as he thought about the answer, and a dozen of other tiny cues that let me know more than words on a screen. I’m someone who likes things in writing, but I realized that I also like things spoken as long as they’re recorded so I can listen again and again.
Apparently the youth are courting over voice notes. I really love this because it’s slow–slower than a phone conversation, at least. And you can think before you start speaking. And you can listen to the other person’s words over and over again. Plus sometimes meaning is lost in an email. This way, you can hear the other person’s tone and sighs and pauses.
I never ever want to date again, but I agree with the article that you can get a better sense of a person over time in a low-key way by exchanging audio files.
What do you think?
3 comments
I love this idea! Going to start sending my friends and family more voice notes. 🙂
I like the idea too! Not for research purposes – as you say, having to open each file would be frustrating – but conveying tone of voice is something text struggles with. I can do it on whatsapp I think. I must try it.
I’m not sure what I think. It’s such a new concept for me.
I, too, love the written word for its searchability. But I love the spoken word for its intimacy and dimensionality. So, both, I think.
And like you, I don’t ever want to date again.