Bria Witner

1. Bria Witner • COMM 6910 • Communication Styles

2. Mathew • While he is deployed, trying to get in touch with my husband can be more than challenging. With him working so much and the 14.5 hour time difference, we have a schedule of what we like to call “dates”! In this situation I have never been happier to have so much technology available to me!! • Skype - Mat and I use Skype as our primary means of communication, he pays to have the internet in his barracks room and he makes sure to call me at least once a day! Our Skype dates are at 0600am every morning for me, which is 2030pm (8:30pm) for him. With him having purchased the internet and the fact that Skype calls are free we are able to talk for as long as we want, which is the best part! • MWR Calls - Mat has access to the MWR (moral, welfare and recreation room) on the base at which they are stationed, this is just a room with telephones and computers available to the soldiers. If for some reason he is unable to access the internet in his room he will go to the MWR and use a calling card to call my cell phone from a landline. The only downside to calling from there is that he usually has to wait in line for 15-20 minutes and then the calls themselves can only be 30 minutes. • Snail Mail - Mat is the only person that I send hand written letters to and packages with goodies in them. He says it means more to him that I took the time to write a letter and send it to him, plus he keeps them and says its memories we can save forever. • Facebook - I use Facebook a lot to communicate with Mat, I leave him little messages all over his wall just to tell him I miss him and proud of him. I also send him very lengthy emails letting him know about my day or anything exciting going on here at home. Facebook is the only email he actually checks. • When Mat has time he will get on Facebook and IM me to make sure I am awake to talk or just to email me back and let me know he doesn’t have time to call but that things are going well for him and gives me a time he will try to call.

3. Mother • My mother does not believe in Facebook because she believes it is an invasion of privacy and “creepy”! So the only communication I have with her is through: • Cell phone calls - she usually always answers every time I call, but her battery is short so our conversations are short, but she likes it because they are free cell phone to cell phone calls. • Text messaging - my mom is not the best at texting but she always responds to my test messages. She always uses proper grammar and punctuation instead of short hand like most of my generation. It can be very entertaining. • Email - every once in a while I need to send my mother something to edit for me or some pictures I use email. Or when there is something I need to say that I am to afraid to call for, like I got a ticket... or I need money for something totally over-priced.

4. Father • My Dad is very technologically savvy so when I need to communicate with him there are many more options. • Cell phone and landline calls - if there is something that I need to talk to my Dad about right away I will call him and we can chat, but he tends to be very, very long winded and can talk your ear off if you let him so I limit this style to only the most important things or for when I have a lot of time to talk. • Skype and Facetime - my Dad has an iPad and I have a MacBook, so Facetime is a great tool when it comes to needing to show him something or when I feel homesick. We can see each others facial expressions and it makes the conversations much more fun and interesting. Plus I get to see the house and the pets that I used to get to see everyday. • Text Messaging and Facebook IM - yes, my Dad has a facebook and yes, we are friends! It makes it easier to just send him quick little notes and share photos and when I have nothing important to chat about I can instant message him. • Email - I really only email my Dad if its an interesting article that I found or pictures that he wants to save and print. He sends me silly comics and forwarded emails but this is definitely the last form of communication that we use.

5. Brother and Sister • My siblings and I are very close in age, all in college and so clearly we are always looking for more and different ways to communicate. • Skype and Facetime - My brother has an iPad so we talk a lot through there, which is funny since he lives on Oahu. But my sister lives in Colorado so we use Skype when we want to see each other. • Cell phone calls - My sister always calls me when she needs some advice or to just chat about what she is doing in school. My brother on the other hand never answers his phone! He wont return voicemail either so thats a waste of time to get in touch on the cell it has to be after many many calls. • Text Messaging - Best way to talk to my brother and get him to respond, and when he wants to share pictures he sends them to me. My sister sends me these novel length messages consisting of some sort of drama she has gotten into and wants advice. • IM and Facebook - I like to send little joking messages to my sister and brother just to give them a smile for the day. They both have Facebook on their “smart phones” so they are in constant contact with everyone and get my messages instantly. We also chat when we are all online at the same time.

6. Close Friends • I think that in this day and age most all of my friends are very connected through Facebook or texting. The technology to us is like second nature and with my close friends I know that I can always get in touch with them day or night in many different ways. • Cell phone calls and Texting - I call my close friends at least once a day, whether it be to make plans to meet up or just to catch up on their day. They all have cell phones and I have actually had to add a few to my phone plan “friends and family” to make sure that we can talk as long as we want for free. And usually when I am not talking to them on the phone we are all texting to make plans or to just see what the other is doing. • Facebook and IM - I use Facebook daily to communicate with my close friends, I am very selective on who I let be my friend on Facebook and who I let see certain things on my page. I will IM a friend if I see that they are on just to catch up or ask a questionI think they could answer. I send I lot of video messages to friends far away so that they can see and hear me, its a nice way of telling someone hi! • Skype and Facetime - I only use these with friends that are close to me but have moved or don’t live near me. It is a wonderful tool because I can see them almost everyday and they could live anywhere in the world! Its like having my best friends right here with me to talk to about whats going on and they are very far away.

7. People I don’t know • There are situations that come up where I need to get in contact with someone that I don’t know or have never met in person. Those situations are things like possible jobs I am applying for, school employees that I need to get information from or simply making a doctors appointment. • Cell and landline phone calls - when I need a question answered right away or I need to make an appointment I always use the phone. It Makes the most sense and it is the fastest way to get ahold of someone that I don’t know and need to talk to. • Email - a lot of the time when doing things for school or applying for jobs I will send email out. This is of course when I don’t need an answer right away. It is quick enough that I can take care of business, but its not as personal as calling if I am too uncomfortable with that relationship to do so.

8. Conclusion • I hope that this gave a good overview of how I communicate with the different people in my life and what a difference technology has made. With the different relationships there seems to be just as many different ways for communicating between people. No one is every far from a computer or cell phone now-a-days so reaching them is never hard. I haven’t decided if that is a good or bad thing yet, I guess only the future will tell. • Thank you