| Texting, emailing, twittering-it's all the rage. But recently I | | | | these statistics:o Online auction fraud was the most |
| got myself into trouble with a typed communication. | | | | reported type of fraud and accounted for 44.9% of |
| Let's talk about communication. It's a process of | | | | consumers complaintso Non-delivered merchandise |
| exchanging information to share knowledge, express | | | | and/or payment made up 19% of complaintso Check |
| feelings, state our positions, or share our skills. | | | | fraud represented 4.9% of complaintso About 70% of |
| However, communication is more than words. It's | | | | the fraud victims were scammed through the webo |
| made up of verbal (words) and nonverbal (gestures, | | | | About 30% of the victims were scammed by emails |
| expressions, etc.) messages. | | | | Of course I'm not saying that you can't be duped in |
| Researchers in communication suggest that only 7% | | | | person, but if someone shows up as my new financial |
| of a message is sent through words and the rest is all | | | | advisor in an unmarked white truck, wearing a red |
| nonverbal expressions. A lot of the time it is what the | | | | bandana and white T-shirt, with tattoos and nervous |
| person is not saying, their inflection, their gestures, their | | | | flashy eyes, I'm probably not going to do business with |
| expression, their tone, and most importantly-your gut | | | | him...let alone let him in the house. |
| reaction to what they've said-which speaks louder | | | | As I was growing up, my mother used to recite this |
| than words. With texting and emailing you only get the | | | | quote: |
| written word which definitely has its limitations, | | | | "Keep your words soft and sweet, You'll never know |
| especially if you do not know the person well. (That | | | | from time-to-time, Which ones you'll have to eat." |
| was my faux pas.) | | | | Those words prove even more important today with |
| When you type your communication, it is difficult to | | | | the number of words being sent by text and email. |
| express your feelings and intentions. Some emails | | | | And you cannot always be prepared for the way |
| have added emoticons, but watching a little | | | | those innocent words will be interpreted without your |
| smiley-face jump up and down is not quite the same | | | | sweet voice and naïve nature for them to judge |
| thing. If someone sends you a smiley-face, what is | | | | you by. |
| their true emotion? Are they serious, lying, depressed, | | | | Written communication used to be an art form in which |
| or being sarcastic? | | | | people took the time to think out. Now it is often a |
| When communicating with family and friends, you | | | | hurried, thoughtless response. I have sent a number of |
| already know their intentions and feelings toward you. | | | | emails giving information and the immediate, clueless |
| If they accidentally type something that sounds a little | | | | responses amaze me. It is like the person didn't take |
| odd, you assume the best. That doesn't always | | | | the time to actually read what I wrote, in some cases |
| happen with acquaintances. With emails and texting, | | | | they've come to the wrong conclusion and fired back |
| we don't get the chance to stop the person and ask, | | | | a thoughtless email. (Their faux pas.) |
| "What was that you said?"?" All we see are those | | | | To sum up, here are a few things to remember when |
| glaring words on the screen that we are enraged | | | | texting or emailing: |
| about and quickly respond to without thinking it through. | | | | 1. Read each email or text slowly to make sure you |
| People rarely text back and ask, "What did you | | | | understand the meaning. |
| mean?" or "Could you explain?" | | | | 2. Think about your response before firing one back, |
| For some reason with the written word, what you | | | | especially if you are angry. |
| type is fact and not to be questioned. If someone | | | | 3. Re-read your response for any errors. Spell |
| typed it, they meant it. But how often in verbal | | | | checkers won't always catch wording mistakes. |
| communication does something come out wrong? In | | | | 4. Check and make sure that who you are sending it |
| that case, we get the chance to quickly say, "I didn't | | | | to is accurate. |
| mean that the way it sounded." Unfortunately, once the | | | | 5. Make sure that any sarcastic messages won't be |
| message is sent - it's sent. And unfortunately, it might | | | | misinterpreted. |
| be sent to more people than you had planned. | | | | 6. If you receive a text or email that offends you, take |
| (Another one of my faux pas.) | | | | the time to question the sender first before responding |
| The current estimate is that more than ten million texts | | | | to his/her statement. |
| and emails are sent each second and is rapidly | | | | 7. Don't text or email while driving or distracted. |
| replacing all other forms of communication. Sad to think | | | | No, I am not going to tell you what actually happened |
| about when you realize the importance of non-verbal | | | | with my faux pas. I'll keep that between me and the |
| communication. It could explain why the number of | | | | thousands of contacts that received my |
| internet scams are increasing by exponential numbers. | | | | poorly-worded, emoticon-free email. Hopefully, this is |
| In 2007, The Internet Crime Complaint Center reported | | | | one communication I got right. :? |