Quote:
Originally Posted by Digging4Truth
Any thoughts you may have on the subject will be greatly appreciated.
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I don't know what else to say but what I've already said several times. This type of medium, along with email, is a "cool" medium. Inflections, double meanings, tone, and inference guided by facial expressions are all lost. You can be laughing while you type something and your audience will interpret your writing as angry, or sad, or rude, or all three. Even the use of the generic "you" can be misinterpreted.
You can write something with a certain mood, intention, or meaning. But your readers will color it with whatever mood they are in at the moment they read it. There are regional differences in word usage and slang that further confound true communication of full meaning.
Neutral words, passive voice, and avoiding the use of the generic 'you' are all helpful in this regard. One of the more frequent misunderstandings is the interpretation of the author's use of 'you' generically as a specific accusation. But this is still only half the battle. So much of the replies to replies of posts is about clarification of misunderstanding even when tempers
aren't rising.
We engage in what amounts to amateur publishing, and never even
think of hiring an editor. We must be our own editors, filtering what we write before we post it such that we give ourselves the best chance for being understood and not giving offense (unless, of course, offense is our goal).
We should check our writing for unintentional double entendre, ambiguous meaning, and the potential for being interpreted as accusatory.
It isn't easy. But as people gain experience with these types of forums, and observe how such simple things can be misinterpreted, not only do they become more studied in their writings, but more lenient in their interpretations of the writings of others.
Look at the pages of smilies available to help convey tone. The problem is recognized at some level, but smilies alone won't fix it.
If you read something here, and it makes you angry, I recommend that you respond to it just as you would respond the first time you hear your young child unknowingly repeat a curse word. Curb your anger, ask them what they said, ask them where they heard it and if they know what it means - you get the idea.
We should grant leniency to the writings of others, and look for opportunities for misinterpretation in which we can give grace, mercy, and the benefit of the doubt.
We should ease in to familiarity with others very slowly. Teasing and friendly insults can get out of hand much more quickly with people that you've never met in person.
Tell me if you think this is helpful, it all seems obvious stuff to me. I guess some people on here are inexperienced in the corporate world of email, where each email could be your
last email. The careful cultivate their carefulness and the careless cultivate the 'help-wanted' section.
Hybrid Mode
