I gave this talk at ecomm, Emerging Communications Conference & Awards, 2009 in Amsterdam http://europe.ecomm.ec/2009 Orality, the most natural way for humans to communicate, is inclusive and participatory, highly interactive, and instantaneous. Back in 1982, Walter J. Ong coined the term 'secondary orality' - a way of interpersonal communication made possible by modern communication tools, that is neither classically oral nor literate. This talk will explore if and how digital communication tools are developing into communication enablers, allowing us to go back to our roots and engage in conversations instead of creating written correspondence. We will look at how different tools, such as email and chat, facilitate group communications, and how new tools such as Google Wave support our natural way of interacting with each other.

1. Back to the roots? Emerging communication paradigms in the context of secondary orality Johanna Kollmann @johannakoll 30 October 2009

2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjayausta/3345622099/ „ Orality is the base of all human experience.“ Lance Strate

3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/josemota/3610060819/ Walter Ong (1912 - 2003) „ After people learned to write, they continued to talk, probably more than ever – they had more to say. But they did not talk the same way .“

4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjayausta/3345622099/ „ Orality is participatory, interactive, communal and focused on the present. The Web is all of these things .“ Irwin Chen

7. Changing interfaces of communication tools http://www.flickr.com/photos/taller/3873192274/

8. Changing interfaces of communication tools

9. Google Wave

10. „ Oral communication unites people in groups .“ Walter Ong http://www.flickr.com/photos/donncha/260452213/

11. „ Our age of secondary orality, because of its orality, makes us yearn for interpersonal relationships . “ Walter Ong http://www.flickr.com/photos//adamcharnock/3848547234/

12. Communication  Conversations  Collaboration http://www.flickr.com/photos//adamcharnock/3848547234/ Me  Us Yes, I care  Yes, I do

13. Thank you [email_address] [email_address] @johannakoll