Recently I caught myself mid-sentence as I morphed into a curmudgeon and muttered out loud, “Well, leave it to those young whippersnappers!”
A large part of communication relies on context. In our day to day interactions, in-person or virtually, we rely on a lot of nonverbal communication. Without those cues, we are left guessing and have to assume tone and intent. And just like the formula to almost every sitcom ever written, miscommunication and hilarity often ensue.
Except that in real life, there isn’t a 30-minute plot line that always turns out well in the end! And it isn’t always hilarious.
As anyone who has written an email or text knows, the tone is critical in determining the outcome of your communication (hello obvious police). Enter emojis with their ability to add a bit of tone to the written word. Their ability to add understanding and purpose to the message has been a gift, yet they can be viewed as unprofessional, and using too many is frowned upon in the business world.
Example:
Let’s talk.
Got it.
Sure.
Okay.
Yep.
Leave it to the whippersnappers to come up with a potential solution.
Enter “tone indicators”. The New York Times featured this article in December and it’s got me thinking. The article indicates how these tone indicators allow the author to state their desired intent.
Their definition is as follows:
“Tone indicators are paralinguistic signifiers used at the ends of statements to help readers fill in the blanks. Put simply, they are written shorthand for the poster’s intent and emotion.”
The article goes on to state how tone indicators are proving to be helpful.
“Interpreting text can be frustrating for anyone online, but is particularly so for users who are neurodivergent — a wide category that can refer to people with a range of neurological differences including autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia. Some neurodivergent people say they have trouble deciphering the subtle cues associated with sarcasm or flirtation, in particular, and are tone-indicator enthusiasts.”
I’m intrigued by tone indicators as it can take the mystery out of intent yet I wonder if the trend will catch on. I know personally that I’d need the cheat sheet by my computer and phone at all times until I learned the “code”. That being said, I’m of a certain age and just had to look up a response I recently received to a post I had made– NMH (nodding my head). So it might just be me.
As our world moves and evolves at warp speed, I’m in favor of trying to align our nonverbals in written form. I’m cheered on by the thought that our conversations can be “read” better via text and email and hope that civility comes back en vogue.
I’d love to get your thoughts as I study and prepare to learn a new set of acronyms!
Your co-pilot (who feels hip for already incorporating NMH into several text conversations– /srs),
