Break in Technology
Finally back after an extended vacation where I got to hang out with the coolest guy in the world.... my dad.
Anyways I was just chilling minding my own business being cool and writing some emails when I got a work related email from a colleague that got me thinking about technology and age and more specifically how they relate. Now this gentleman is about 55 or so and is in the generation above me which means that we have a lot of differing features in the way we read, write, speak, etc. and I think most people would agree that there are huge difference from generation to generation. And after reading this email, for me, that was ever so evident.
While reading this email I got this feeling that this person was extremely angry with someone else, (not me, I was just copied on it) but when I talked to the individual that wrote it he kind of chuckled and laughed explaining that it wasn't supposed to be in an angry tone at all.. I kind of looked puzzled as I thought back to what he had wrote and the tone in which I felt it was written in. Hmm, really was he that oblivious to how the email read?
You can probably all think of a friend that you know that doesn't write emails all that much or writes in one sentence formats, and sometimes that is too much. I have seen as little as 3 or less word answers and the author behind these emails generally thinks that is enough to answer the 4 questions you wrote to them above. Really??
Now email has a many advantages such as; response time, quicker than writing, fast delivery, etc. But there are also disadvantages which include; the inability to always express the tone of your writing (especially if you from an older generation), lost emails or intercepted ones, falsely written email addresses, etc. I mean think about it, we are long overdue for someone to make a "sarcasm color rule," I mean why can't someone make a rule that when you are joking you need to write your comment in green. Pretty simple eh?
Anyways just wanted to chat a bit about the inability for some people to communicate successfully the way they want to through the Internet. For me it's easy to see a generational gap which lines up quite nicely to way people can or can't write emails.
Get with the times old people.... geeez. :P
Posted in: fun, men, old people, smiling, women on Monday, August 24, 2009 at at 2:34 PM
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Talking about emails, you have one or two to reply to yourself... ;)
But I agree about the older generation, they don't always 'get' how to communicate via the internet. I mean, my mum still sets out her emails like they're a formal letter! I guess emails have become very colloquial, if you haven't spent a lot of time writing them, for sure it is hard to know that you have to find new ways to show your humour, or that you have to word things more precisely so they aren't taken the wrong way. The internet is notorious for creating misunderstanding though, even with our generation. So many words and sentences can have many different connotations, especially if you attempt to 'read between the lines' (usually a bad idea as you are apt to get it wrong! I know this myself from experience).
Which is why I keep coming across articles written about the 'return of the exclamation point!!!'. Sometimes you need a little extra punctuation or a smiley to get your point across. :)
Do you have an article about the 'return of the exclamation point'? I would love to check that out. :)
Sounds interesting.
I do, yeah, haha. Or I did? I wonder if I still have the magazine, it was hardcopy. Will try and track it down for you.
I love emailing as a way of communication but I hate the way some people use it.
When my boss emails me, it comes off abrupt and rude. At first I let it respond to me, now I respond i the same abrupt manner.
My cousin emails in all caps with no periods... Long EMAILS. I don't read all of them.
I think I tend to email like I talk. Slang and all.