The Communication Crisis

The digital revolution transformed our capacity to communicate. Email was at the heart of that change with more than 300 billion sent daily. At the outset, it was said to herald a new era for the economy akin to the industrial revolution. But the predicted improvements in output and efficiency have not materialised. Critics now question whether these technologies improve our economy or our lives at all. Research at the University of California Irvine demonstrated that employees in 'no email' conditions, were more focused and less distracted. They also had lower stress levels. Leading entrepreneurs have gone further, British inventor James Dyson has banned staff from writing memos and discourages digital communication, limiting his own inbox to just 6 emails a day.

Instead of seeing email, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Slack as digital advances should we see them as distraction devices that undermine achievement and destroy well-being? Should we set about removing them from our working and personal lives? Or is this Luddite paranoia, and digital communication powerful technologies that will evolve further and enhance our experience and our activity?

Author of Nihilism and Technology Nolen Gertz, author of The Nowhere Office Julia Hobsbawm and lead of brand practice at Deloitte Digital Katie Farrell debate whether communication technology is ruining or revolutionising our lives and work.