How Our KakaoTalk Group Chat Closed The Communication Gap For Our Family
This was originally posted in November 2018 on LinkedIn
Thinking back when I was a child, we had most of our family conversations over dinner. At that time, we were a family of four with similar schedules, leading us to naturally eat dinner together consistently. This prompted our family dinner to become a space where we held our family conversations. Every night was different, with some nights being full of chatter (too much chatter) — we spoke about what we did that day, vent, debate ideas, share observations, and discuss family weekend plans. While other nights had less conversation and more silent appreciation on how great the home cooked meal tasted in front of us.
These dinners became a foundation on how we as a Shin family communicated with each other. However, truthfully my family was never the best at communicating our emotions or fully being open with each other. As we grew older, my sister and I realized it was much easier to have a conversation with my mom then it was with my dad. The theories on why this was: 1) Our culture as Korean-Americans led us to not easily be open with elders and 2) As we grew older, it was challenging to find topics that we all related to. It was and continues to be a continuous effort to communicate generally.
Now with both me and my sister in college, our family dinners are no longer consistent. They are becoming more rare than normal. The lack of physical presence with all of us in one room has become an even steeper challenge on our family communication… or has it?
Our family began to talk more than ever before but virtually. We used KaKaoTalk to share pictures on what we’re eating for lunch, ask for opinions on what item we should buy, send in our family grocery list items, share exciting news happening in our lives, and of course send pictures of our dog.
For those who are not familiar with KaKaoTalk, it’s a free mobile instant messaging application for smartphones with free text and free call features. This platform is known in South Korea for their array of animated emoticons and sticker collections.
Through KaKaoTalk we can connect as a family in ways we were least expecting. Starting with the animated stickers that gave us an avenue to easily express our emotions that were once shared over dinner. Even emotions that we struggled to communicate in person like my dad who now uses the animated “happy” dancing pink bunny to express his joy (this may or may not be his spirit animal). Lastly, KaKaoTalk connects us together even though we are not always beside each other as often as before. The distance we have between us is not a barrier. I find myself after a long day looking forward hearing the “KaKao” notification ping, eager to read or see what the latest family news is being talked about
That is the beauty of technologies like KaKaoTalk, it’s able to bridge together what may have been a communication gap, a moment of time that may not be shared, and instead bring us closer than ever before.
