bewing@kean.mun.ca (10/16/89)
Computer network communication has similarities to both verbal and written comm.; yet its appearance is that of the more formal mode or print. On screen or off the printer the informal words we key in take on a formal aspect. i do not mean to say that net comm. is informal but much of it is. because we type our thoughts, ideas, information, they appear as the printed word which in our society carries more weight than teh spoken word; yet what we are keying is our conversations; i.e. what we would say face-to-face and this is where the flaming begins; a confusion happens; spoken words are emphermal, they disappear in the air ; teh printed word may linger forever; people act strongly to print. it may be necessary to use a hybrid writing style to reduce this confusion. one day what we key in may appear as handwritting or be audible but for now we need to adapt what we have; there are no visual clues to aid our meaning; to some exten smileys help. in oredr to informalize we may want to omit capitalization ot accept the odd typo; add shorts froms as IMO [in my opinion] and ICBW [i could be wrong] in order to indicate that the words are not fact. This is a few observbations from our study into netcomm. and e'd appreciate your comments. Thanks. Bob Ewing Jocelyn J. Paquette :-)
RR.MAX@forsythe.stanford.edu (10/20/89)
In article <21166@kean.mun.ca>, bewing@kean.mun.ca writes: >happens; spoken words are emphermal, they disappear >in the air ; teh printed word may linger forever; people Long, long time ago, the Romans were already aware of the same thing, coining the phrase "Verba volant, scripta manent"; nice to know that the computer age has not changed all of the fundamental verities.
tale@pawl.rpi.edu (David C Lawrence) (10/25/89)
In <21166@kean.mun.ca> bewing@kean.mun.ca writes:
Bob> because we type our thoughts, ideas, information, they
Bob> appear as the printed word which in our society carries
Bob> more weight than teh spoken word; yet what we are keying
Bob> is our conversations; i.e. what we would say face-to-face and
Bob> this is where the flaming begins; a confusion
Bob> happens; spoken words are emphermal, they disappear
Bob> in the air ; teh printed word may linger forever; people
Bob> act strongly to print.
People react strongly to so many things, print being merely one of
them. One thing working against electronic communication is the
unavailability of tone or body language; conversely, it sometimes
works for it. As an example, I have one friend who I simply cannot
communicate with via computer -- we are so physical in our normal
interaction that misunderstandings frequently arise when the machine
is between us, in spite of our excellent personal relationship.
Someone else I know I would rather talk to over the computer rather
than face-to-face. The main reason for this is that he closes up
in a face-to-face situation, making his personality quite different.
Bob> it may be necessary to use a hybrid writing style to
Bob> reduce this confusion.
Reduce? Do you think the message you have composed reduces confusion?
I think it makes a reader work harder to understand it all, which does
not aid communication.
Bob> one day what we key in may appear as handwritting or be audible
Bob> but for now we need to adapt what we have; there are no visual
Bob> clues to aid our meaning; to some exten smileys help.
To some extent, but not even everyone reacts to them in the same way.
This is just another way in which we all interpret _life_ differently.
More examples: Some people put stage cues like <hug> and <grin> in
their writings. I don't like them much, but I don't voice my opinion
about it much because they're not really hurting anything. Why don't
I like them? Well, <hug>s though because they're just not the same as
the real thing (plus I don't know that I'd _want_ the real thing from
the person who sent it to me -- mean sounding thought, but true) and
<grin>s make me think of either the Cheshire Cat or a lecher.
By the way, why do some people feel it necessary to put two or more
question marks after every question they type? Looks to me like they
have a bad case of high blood pressure.
Bob> in oredr to informalize we may want to omit capitalization
Bob> ot accept the odd typo;
What are you considering "the odd typo"? Every three words confuses
things a lot. Good grammar helps both written and spoken communica-
tion. If not for the fact that your article was addressing these very
issues, and supposedly illustrating one perspective, my reaction to it
would be very negative. The form of this article generally indicates
someone who is either uneducated or simply does not care about the
quality of work. It does not mean that necessarily either is the
case; if, however, the message exists in the public forum at all, it
presumably exists to communicate information to other people. The
desired result is much more easily obtained through a message that
appears to have had at least a little effort put into it.
Bob> add shorts froms as IMO [in my opinion] and ICBW [i could be
Bob> wrong] in order to indicate that the words are not fact.
Whee. Great. At least you've taking the pretentious H out of IMO.
Perhaps you could moderate news.newusers.questions, too. Expect a
question regarding abbreviations and smileys to appear in your mailbox
at least once a week.
Dave
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