I’ve started reading The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our Lives by Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen and am already finding it a bit of a PR stunt for all things digital (there are some thought-provoking critiques on Amazon).

Yes, the number of mobile phones will likely exceed the world population this year and around 40 per cent of the planet has internet access. Meanwhile, my mobile phone won’t allow me to call abroad despite numerous calls to my network. And my landline isn’t working. My mum has not been able to learn how to use a computer, yet when I Facebook messaged my brother to set up a Skype call with her, he replied, ‘My computer has crashed and I no longer have Skype.’

Kate, one of my oldest and best friends who now lives in Australia, recently got engaged. I found out on Facebook. Moreover, I read the news through a mutual friend’s post before hers. A week later, Kate and I finally caught up on FaceTime. She’d texted her closest friends with her big news and promptly cried. ‘Aren’t you happy you’re engaged?,’ her fiancé asked.
‘Yes, but my friends don’t seem to be happy for me.’ I hadn’t received the message and neither had anyone else. The mutual friend was the first person Kate spoke to and in her excitement shared the news online before the bride-to-be so Kate had to quickly follow suit.

‘Mum wants to know if you got married in Malaysia?,’ my brother messaged. The irony of having so many ways to stay in touch is that we now have more ways than ever to miscommunicate.