The Blunted Expression of Text

An interesting story in the Star this week explores how texting can often come across as rather blunt.

It seems that some of the texting generation have put aside sensitivity of how their message may be received by others.

Their priority is to create a short and compact message, but it can often come across to the recipient as blunt to borderline abusive.

“They [students] sound like they’re going to burn your door down,” says Professor Tim Blackmore in a Star interview.

“They send messages that are both lazy and in the imperative – “Hey, u didn’t tell me what was wrong with my paper.”

“You think, that’s some crust. But then they come into your office and they are crying. They are nice people. But their messages are surface, not about depth. They need to step back and get some context.”

In the early days of email, I remember paying little attention to how my emails sounded. And often I received a terse response.

I also received emails myself that could be read as terse and insensitive. When I questioned the sender, they seemed mystified by my interpretation.

I often thought the mood of the reader could also add to the misinterpretation of the emotional intent behind the message.

If I were in a bad mood, I may read a friend’s email as negative.

These days, I’m often careful to word emails neutrally, especially when emailing work or professionally related contacts. I may even occasionally revert to a letter writing style using dear and sincerely.

And God forbid you use sarcasm since it is almost always misinterpreted in text based messages.