If I look at my online communication from today, I had a video call with Mum on Facebook Messenger, texted a friend, replied to a colleague’s text, reached out to another friend on WhatsApp and messaged someone on Instagram.

I used four different platforms and wasn’t consciously aware of it. The friend I texted is in her 70s. As she has an Android phone, her texts appear in green. We made tentative plans to catch up next week depending on the weather. The next text was from a colleague who wanted me to co-sign a complaint regarding the restructure process. He’s in his fifties and uses the keyboard to draw a smiley which includes a nose.

The WhatsApp message was for my childhood friend. I don’t always get notifications from WhatsApp so not sure if she’s responded yet. I told her I was back but didn’t get a chance to make plans to catch up. We used Messenger to communicate when we were younger and email before that. Our old messages crack me up. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be young and earnest. I caught a glimpse of that recently when my teenage niece was super excited about a book being published in 300 days.

The video call with Mum was to let her know I’d be seeing her tomorrow. She said she might be out in the morning so I’ll aim for the afternoon. On our video calls, I often ask Mum to reveal her face when I spot just an eye and part of her forehead. In contrast, with my nieces it’s all about movement. The camera is constantly moving or their faces are moving along to the filters and games in the background which is fun for only a second.

Online communication has become the norm but I have mixed feelings about it. It’s convenient but there’s no escaping it. My first reaction was irritation when I saw the text from my work friend. I haven’t touched my work laptop since I started leave nor have I signed in to my work email or Teams but then I got over my initial reaction and replied to his text.