Wang JianShuo, as always, wrote a thought provoking post a few days ago, titled, “Why people don’t use v-mails in China“? I have always pondered about this, as well as the question raised in his related post “Do you have a calendar“.
Wang’s perpsective is that Chinese people don’t use v-mails because they have leaped over the technology and adopted SMS and IM. If the objective for using v-mails is to reach others when they are not reachable… then the internet and mobile phones should have eliminated the need because (technically) everyone is now reachable 24/7.
There is certainly merit to this argument. I also agree with some of the comments on his blog that social ettiquettes also come into play. While it is impolite in the US to take a phone call in the middle of a face-to-face meeting, it is impolite in China not to pick up your phone when it is ringing.
The question then is, are these differences in ettiquettes shaped by culture, or by habit? If we had mobile phones in the 70s and 80s, would we have voicemails today? If we had IM and SMS in the 90s, would we use emails the same way we do? I think not. Just look at the teenagers today; with no legacy habits, their behaviors resembles those in China.
Why leave a message when you are going to call back ten times in a row during the next three minutes anyway?
[…] Why China doesn’t use voice mail – the answer will stun you (via) […]
I have always wondered about this as well but never really gave it much thought. Interesting points, especially the part about it being impolite here NOT to answer the phone. I just didn’t realize that was what was going on.
I agree with your point “While it is impolite in the US to take a phone call in the middle of a face-to-face meeting, it is impolite in China not to pick up your phone when it is ringing. ” Every society has its own social etiquettes. This may explain “Why people don’t use v-mails in China”.
People’s behavior is considerably affected by the living environment. Email is widely used in China but, frankly, V-mail is still new to Chinese people. China Tours will bring everybody an opportunity to learn more about China.
Personally, maybe people in China consider it to be much more convenient to use text message of cell phone than V-email.