New research estimates that Americans spend around 23 hours a week engaging in digital communication, and if the past is any indication, that number will only continue to rise. The rapid adoption of digital communication has left many wondering, “what are the implications for my organization?”
So, what is digital communication?
Digital communication is the use of online tools like email, social media messaging and texting to reach other individuals or a specific audience in order to share a message. Even something as simple as reading the text on a webpage like this can be considered digital communication.
Over the last 20 years, many businesses, organizations, and industries have had to ask themselves, “what is digital communication?” and adapt to the changing environment where digital communication has replaced not just older forms of communication like writing and sending letters but face-to-face communication as well.
In an effort to better serve the needs of citizens, governments have also asked themselves this question of “what is digital communication?” and adapted many of their services so they could better serve the needs of their citizens. This process, commonly referred to as the digital government transformation, is ongoing and as there are more advancements in technology, the answer to a question like, “what is digital communication?” may change to include more things.
Why is digital communication important?
The whole world learned why digital communication was important throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. If a business hadn’t already asked themselves, “what is digital communication?” prior to the pandemic, they would have had to in order to stay afloat because many could not operate in person or at least not at full capacity.