“The text has disappeared under the interpretation.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche,
As stated in the "Writing as a Communication Tool" video, "…words never speak for themselves." In a digital age where we shorten and abbreviate words to quicken the writing process frequently, we can confuse others with what we are saying. Sometimes instead of using words to say what we mean, we use pictures, emojis, or videos. If you were to ask someone about their day and responded with a thumb's up emoji, you could conclude that their day was going well. If in that same scenario, they were to respond with a video of a baby bunny frolicking in the grass, you would most likely be confused about what that meant. Context, though it may seem strenuous, is necessary if you do not want to confuse or unknowingly have your response taken the wrong way.
I have unfortunately encountered many issues regarding conversing over text, email, or social media. For example, I have sent text messages to the wrong person, shared a photo for someone's birthday when, in fact, it was not their birthday, cc'ed an email to the wrong person, and many more. It is, unfortunately, very easy to make mistakes when communicating with others through electronic devices. We can eliminate this issue by slowing down and taking our time. As humans, we innately look for quick solutions to reach our end goal as hastily as possible. If I had slowed down and taken my time during every issue that I have ever encountered with digital communication, they wouldn't have happened.
In-person conversations are never misinterpreted. You are speaking to someone, viewing the facial expressions, and listening to how they share or tell you information. When you converse with people via email or text message, you can frequently be misunderstood. Your words can be interpreted as insensitive, mean, or crass when you did not mean for them to come off that way. No matter what we do in those situations, there isn't one specific way to fix that problem. Without someone looking at your face or listening to your voice, they will interpret the text the way they want. You can help solve this issue by trying to be as thorough as possible when explaining what you are trying to convey. If you read the message back to yourself and it could be interpreted differently, add multimodal text. You can add pictures, videos, or emojis to ensure that what you are sending is what you mean.
If you were to approach writing texts or emails the same way you approach writing your stories, novels, or essays, there would never be any confusion; the same can be said conversely. If any of your formal writing works were written in the same format as your text messages or emails, you would be the author of the most confusing works ever written. In formal works, you set the scene, provide detail, introduce your characters, and transport your reader into the story. By providing your reader with the information to see into the characters' minds, dialogue should never confuse the reader. Text messages and emails typically are sent with little detail and often no context; this leads to confusion and misinterpretation. Writing your texts or emails as formal works is not the correct solution. There is a reason books are long and digital communication is short. People do not have the time to read a novel to receive a straightforward answer from you. Though this may seem hypocritical, there is a middle ground for providing the correct amount of detail, so there is never any confusion.
In the future, I will attempt to use my advice stated in this journal to help me. I can accomplish fewer mistakes if I slow down, take my time, make sure what I am writing is to the correct person, give appropriate information, and be as detailed as possible. I will always make mistakes, but I can make fewer if I use this process each time.
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