Re: Why e-mails are easily misunderstood

i really enjoy reading folks who try to work out the misunderstandings!
anyone can disagree, just a few are willing to listen to others and try
to understand. not an easy task!

chuck b:-)

whistler wrote:

Well there you have it !!! No fucking wonder !! And men do the bulk
of their thinking with their small brain, anyhow !
one of us wrote:
interesting article;
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0515/p13s01-stct.html




Sci/Tech > Computers & Technology
from the May 15, 2006 edition

It's all about me: Why e-mails
are so easily misunderstood

By Daniel Enemark | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

excerpt

Morris and Lowenstein are among the
scholars studying the benefits and dangers of
e-mail and other computer-based
interactions. In a world where businesses and
friends often depend upon e-mail to
communicate, scholars want to know if
electronic communications convey ideas
clearly.

The answer, the professors conclude, is
sometimes "no." Though e-mail is a powerful
and convenient medium, researchers have
identified three major problems. 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.

In effect, e-mail cannot adequately convey
emotion. A recent study by Profs. Justin
Kruger of New York University and Nicholas
Epley of the University of Chicago focused
on how well sarcasm is detected in electronic
messages. Their conclusion: Not only do
e-mail senders overestimate their ability to
communicate feelings, but e-mail recipients
also overestimate their ability to correctly
decode those feelings.




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