Charlottetown councillor’s blog attests to change in human communications

Rob Lantz, councillor for ward three in Charlottetown, was campaigning in the last municipal election when a man invited him into his home and told him his life story. The man had moved to the city from somewhere in the UK.
Lantz posted the experience on a blog designed for recording his campaigning experiences.
Months passed.
Someone left a comment on the blog which was libellous to the man from the UK and he called Lantz. Lantz gave the libeller’s email address to him.
He was angry Lantz had allowed the comment to stand and told him he was responsible for it. Nothing came of the incident and Lantz let the thread stand for a few more months.
Meanwhile, the blog took on a life of its own.
“I had no intention to carry it on if I did win,” he said.
And win he did. But the site remained.
Lantz works for a computer technology company as well as attending to his municipal duties. He has plenty of expertise setting up and running an efficient, well-monitored blog.
He even keeps statistics with the help of specialized software.
And he knows where visitors are from, he said.
“I’ve tracked one visitor who seems to visit regularly from Japan.”
He suspects most of the visitors are people who know him or people who’ve visited P.E.I.
“There’s a real core of locals. Some of them are brave enough to leave comments.
“And leave their names,” Lantz said.
He also recommended the city adapt to changing times by purchasing Blackberries, wireless internet communications devices, for Charlottetown council members. Council took his advice.
Not surprisingly, Lantz and his colleagues are not alone as they move into the 21st century.
But there has been a cost for the move.
“Some of the councillors still struggle with the Blackberries.”
Howard Beattie of curriculum services at Holland College, an educational technologist implementing a new learning management system for the college, said he doesn’t think society has taken a critical look at what is on the internet when it comes to human communication and how it has changed with the use of technology. Often, the symbolism gets older users confused because they are not fully aware of Internet etiquette, an unwritten list of rules for use with Internet communication.
“I think the English language is constantly changing, but the Internet has sped up the evolution of language,” Beattie said.
He thinks it’s a generational thing as well.
“Internet communication buys into or fuels instant gratification in that today’s society wants it now.”
A sense of detachment associated with Internet communication influences how people communicate.
“Anonymity plays a big part in it as well.”
Lantz said while most visitors to his blog are anonymous, he has never received an anonymous email.
Despite this, occasionally, the tone of emails has been nasty, he added.
Yet, when he has called the sender, their tone of voice is more conciliatory on the phone.
There is a marked difference in how the two forms of communication are delivered.
“You can almost see them banging their fists on the keyboard.”
Perhaps that was what the man from the UK was really complaining about.