You raised a very good point about the polarisation of skillsets. Its the same argument with broadcast versus print journalists. Being a great writer doesn’t mean that you’ll look good or speak well on TV, and vice versa.

One of the issues I see in this chasm is that younger Gen Y or Gen Z employees are having difficulty in convincing their older bosses or clients. Without a firm grasp of visual and verbal communications, they find it hard to push a point forward while dancing the dance of negotiation.

Face to face is quite different from social media channels. You can use 140 characters to tweet, update what you’re doing directly on Facebook, or give little soundbites every now and then. However, speaking to somebody in the flesh requires a whole lot more protocol and procedure.

Hmmm… may be worth a separate blog post by itself!

You are right about the phenomenon of peering into mobile devices. It does seem characteristic of Singaporeans and I wonder why. In many developed Western countries that are technocentric, mobiles are used more for occasional communication.

I wonder if we’re more similar culturally to the Japanese and Koreans? I do see them peering into their mobile devices quite a bit during train rides.

This is something commission-based sales personnel and entrepreneurs know very well. Networking is their lifeblood. I suspect your observation that our population’s predilection for online/mobile communications is related to the fact that most people here are salaried, and not entrepreneurs.

As for marketing strategy, I could be biased but it seems that skillsets are quite polarised. Those that market F2F can’t articulate themselves in social media, much less blog. Those who do social media tend to rely on it too much–the political party SDP comes to mind.

Comparatively speaking, Singaporeans are more glued to their gadgets than face-to-face interaction. Even in restaurants, most people in HK are talking to each other. It is not uncommon to see Singapore people, even couples, busy messing around with their gadgets than real FULL TIME face-to-face. If you ask the Singaporeans, I don’t think we understand what face-to-face really means. My friends often reply messages or what not while having a meal with me.