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Why Emails Are Misunderstood

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-thought-it-because-you-were-a-jerk dept.

werdna writes "The Christian Science Monitor has a piece on why it's so easy to misinterpret emails. From the article: 'First and foremost, e-mail lacks cues like facial expression and tone of voice. That makes it difficult for recipients to decode meaning well. Second, the prospect of instantaneous communication creates an urgency that pressures e-mailers to think and write quickly, which can lead to carelessness. Finally, the inability to develop personal rapport over e-mail makes relationships fragile in the face of conflict.'"

8 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. My opinion on this article... by zaren · · Score: 5, Funny

    :p

    --
    Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
  2. Another reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    is that some are from Nigerian royalty.

    It's really hard to read their broken English. I spent at least 3 days emailing back and forth before I figured how to send them $10000 from my bank account.

    Now, I'm just waiting for the cash to roll in......

  3. I have been waiting. by Foo2rama · · Score: 5, Funny

    This exact piece of research comes out every year and it is just as earth shattering every time. Thank god that they got it out before the middle of the year and I didn't suffer any anxiety from the delay of the release of this important piece of research. Perhaps since this is written medium did you get the sarcasm?


    Ok kids we got this, yes this issue spawned emoticons, can we move on to more important things like Gizmodo execs and Enzo's cut in half.

    --


    ---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.
  4. Re:inflection, emphasis, tone, etc. usually missin by Moofie · · Score: 5, Funny

    How about "Poorly written English is ambiguous."

    --
    Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
  5. That's why God made CAPITAL letters by ToxikFetus · · Score: 5, Funny
    When one want's to convey importance in an email, merely capitalize every letter in the important word: I didn't STEAL the money. Of course, the problem with this approach becomes readily apparent: How do you emphasize the 'I'? Simple, remove all capitalization from any other word (and for good measure, get rid of that pesky punctuation, except those cute little ellipses). So, as an example:

    mr smith...
    these accusations are an outrage... I didnt steal the money... talk with bob from accounting...
    toodles...
    ted from the mailroom

    See? Clear as a bell. Obviously, ted didn't steal the money. And those ellipses help each sentence flow smoothly into the next.

    Bonus suggestion: If an entire message is important, JUST CAPITALIZE EVERY LETTER. THAT WILL FORCE PEOPLE TO LISTEN AND MAKE YOU SOUND IMPORTANT.

  6. Re:inflection, emphasis, tone, etc. usually missin by glsunder · · Score: 5, Funny

    Read each sentence out loud, with emphasis on the bolded word.
            * I didn't steal the money. ...

    I can only imagine thousands of cubical dwellers reaction to their neighbor muttering "I didn't steal the money" over and over again.

    Tommarow, lets go for "I won't kill the president today".

  7. Importance of Capitalization by SPravin · · Score: 5, Funny

    I helped my uncle Jack off the horse
    v/s
    I helped my uncle jack off the horse

  8. Re:inflection, emphasis, tone, etc. usually missin by aafiske · · Score: 5, Funny

    Woah, dude, good choice! It works really well. I've been trying it out! I won't kill the president today, I won't kill the president today, I won't kill the president today, I won't kill the president today. Try it out!

    One sec, someone's at the door.