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February 9, 2006
Miscommunication in Text
(Filed under: Technology)As we've recently seen, it's easy for written text to be misunderstood, especially in blogs and e-mail. A new study from the University of Chicago confirms that fact. When reading e-mails people in the study understood the intent only 56% of the time, compared to 75% understanding when listening to a voice recording of the same message. In both cases readers and listeners thought they understood the message 90% of the time. Oops.
Bottom line: we often suck at communicating.
Take the time to re-read what you write and try to understand it from a different perspective. What if you read a sarcastic statement seriously, or a serious statement sarcastically? See how it can dramatically change what you intended. And if all else fails, pick up the phone. (link via Lifehacker)
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at February 9, 2006 10:47 AM
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» hermeneutic and mood from Stu's a-Musings
as it stands this article from wired news about comprehesion of emails sets the rate at 50/50 at guessing the tone of the e-mail correctly with 90% believing they're getting it right.
this was also covered at church marketing sucks where there was a litt [Read More]
Tracked on February 13, 2006 12:58 PM
Comments
you know what interests me in this wee thread... i wonder what similarities there are with the stats for comprehension in reading the bible?
is there sarcasm in the bible? dare we think it possible?
i think you're quite right in pointing out that the written word is an imperfect communicator (which is why story communicates much better i suppose since the words can't be isolated from a narrative flow and so they build a picture).
if we identify the limitations we won't fall into so many traps and might ask for clarification before we react too strongly.
Posted by: Stu McGregor at February 9, 2006 1:15 PM
Stu brings up an interesting thought about the understanding the Bible. On the one hand, God gives us revelation of His Word, but on the other hand, we are well aware that there is a wide spectrum of dogmas and theological ideas that can interpret the Bible different from other persepctives. It would definitely be an interesting topic of study. However, it seems to be an issue guided by both scientific and spiritual laws.
Of course with Kevin's post, we all have to wonder if any of our comments are actually making sense. Great post, Kevin! Maybe CMS should become an audio blog and we can post comments via our computers' microphones in efforts to deter confusion.
Posted by: Kent Shaffer at February 10, 2006 7:15 AM
kent,
perhaps it should be vlog. but then why stop there! why not actually get together and hang out in the same room! . . . nah, it might look too much like church. ;-)
Posted by: Stu McGregor at February 10, 2006 12:31 PM
Stu, now THAT was funny... and I do mean the "ha, ha" kind of funny. Oh no... now we have to explain what we've texted? Was it always like this or is this another evolving form of being PC; always cautious not to offend?
This topic was personal to me this week. I blogged & podcasted about the same issue. A listener liked the podcast but hated the blog. It turns out, they simply mis-understood my blog. If this happend to them, I now wonder how many of my readers/listeners had the same response but didn't say anything?
Kevin your post is very on-time! I have to totally agree with it.
Posted by: Arlan Daniels at February 10, 2006 12:56 PM
Vlogs it is.
and let's draw pictures to avoid further confusion.
Posted by: Kent Shaffer at February 10, 2006 1:23 PM
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