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This bugs me. He laments that using Amazon removes a human interaction. Then he says: "Note: I don’t consider chat rooms and product reviews as “human interact

This bugs me. He laments that using Amazon removes a human interaction. Then he says: "Note: I don’t consider chat rooms and product reviews as “human interaction”; they’re mediated and filtered by a screen." Well, I don't consider a sales person swooping in to sell me something I didn't come looking for human interaction. I don't consider someone ringing up my order to be meaningful human interaction. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder, but as soon as online shopping became feasible I switched to it for as many transactions as possible because of the low quality of human interactions I was getting at physical stores. The amount of wasted time and energy spent dealing with people who were instructed to up-sell me on the stupidest things was just such a turn-off. No interest in going back to that.

ianbicking 9y ago
That also stuck out to me, and the reference to "screens" felt too mechanistic. But it made me think about improvised vs planned interactions... lots of people dislike that moment when you don't know what someone is going to say or do when you'll have to react. Salespeople often manipulate us in that moment. Screens don't matter, people aren't crying out for more video interactions. It's the structure and predictability of automated firms that is appealing.
- xg15 9y ago
  Chat rooms/forums/social media etc are human interaction but very removed from the face-to-face kind: - The timing is completely different (you have seconds, minutes or even days to formulate your answer instead of the fractions-of-a second in direct interaction); - Modality (it's over text only, you're not even invoking the visual sense, not even talking about the other senses and associated cues. You don't have access to body language and nonverbal communication and you don't have to keep your own under control either) - Social context (e.g. how many people are, right now, involved in the conversation about this post? Can you even tell? What do you know about the people you're talking with?) All that is fundamentally different enough from face-to-face that you can leave them out to get the point across.
- xg15 9y ago
  ...not to mention that online interaction can be filtered and shaped in a number of ways that are impossible in real life, e.g. through mods or ranking algorithms.
dragonsky 9y ago
I do not disagree with your decision to move to online shopping, however I do think that worthwhile human interaction is a two way street. If you want your interaction with the chasheer to be higher value you could try to inject some value yourself. It will improve their day as well as yours. Maybe then they will transfer some of that value to the next person they serve. Interact with people in the way you would like to be interacted with and you will be surprised by how they respond.
- adrianN 9y ago
  I like it when the cashiers don't talk to me and ring up my stuff as quickly as possible.
- Bakary 9y ago
  That's a good idea. Sadly in a lot of cases the employees are bound by a script of some form.

ianbicking 9y ago

That also stuck out to me, and the reference to "screens" felt too mechanistic. But it made me think about improvised vs planned interactions... lots of people dislike that moment when you don't know what someone is going to say or do when you'll have to react. Salespeople often manipulate us in that moment. Screens don't matter, people aren't crying out for more video interactions. It's the structure and predictability of automated firms that is appealing.

xg15 9y ago
Chat rooms/forums/social media etc are human interaction but very removed from the face-to-face kind: - The timing is completely different (you have seconds, minutes or even days to formulate your answer instead of the fractions-of-a second in direct interaction); - Modality (it's over text only, you're not even invoking the visual sense, not even talking about the other senses and associated cues. You don't have access to body language and nonverbal communication and you don't have to keep your own under control either) - Social context (e.g. how many people are, right now, involved in the conversation about this post? Can you even tell? What do you know about the people you're talking with?) All that is fundamentally different enough from face-to-face that you can leave them out to get the point across.
xg15 9y ago
...not to mention that online interaction can be filtered and shaped in a number of ways that are impossible in real life, e.g. through mods or ranking algorithms.

dragonsky 9y ago

I do not disagree with your decision to move to online shopping, however I do think that worthwhile human interaction is a two way street. If you want your interaction with the chasheer to be higher value you could try to inject some value yourself. It will improve their day as well as yours. Maybe then they will transfer some of that value to the next person they serve. Interact with people in the way you would like to be interacted with and you will be surprised by how they respond.

adrianN 9y ago
I like it when the cashiers don't talk to me and ring up my stuff as quickly as possible.
Bakary 9y ago
That's a good idea. Sadly in a lot of cases the employees are bound by a script of some form.