Why Does Texting Feel Different from Talking? | Otherwords
Your texts might be cool and clever, but you still get tongue-tied when talking to people face-to-face. Why is that? It's all just words, right? Learn the difference between what linguist call synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Otherwords is a PBS web series on Storied that digs deep into this quintessential human trait of language and finds the fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny stories behind the words and sounds we take for granted. Incorporating the fields of biology, history, cultural studies, literature, and more, linguistics has something for everyone and offers a unique perspective on what it means to be human.
sources:
www.latrobe.edu.au/news/annou...
theconversation.com/emoji-are...
www.wired.com/2013/03/texting...
archive.org/details/languagef...
open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaki...
courses.lumenlearning.com/sun....
slate.com/technology/2019/07/...
www.jstor.org/stable/2155877
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.andrewferrier.com/blog/20...
news.uchicago.edu/story/blind....
global.oup.com/academic/produ...
Host: Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D.
Creator/Director: Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham
Writer: Talylor Behnke
Producer: Katie Graham
Editor/Animation: Andrew Matthews
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell
Stock Images from Shutterstock
Music from APM Music
Otherwords is produced by Spotzen for PBS.
© 2023 PBS. All rights reserved.
She's probably one of PBS's best hosts, she's got such great energy and communicated wonderfully. Would probably make an excellent professor.
Agreed. They're all good, but she and Dr Z really stand out from the crowd.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal My 2 favorites as well
She's really pleasant to listen to and a fantastic communicator. Normally, I prefer not to see the narrator except maybe the begining, but Doctor B is different, watching her speak and explain doesn't get boring. But of course all those fun and illustrative animations also help. :)
She also has the best earrings in the business!
Shes hot af too 🥵
That explains why 90% of my text messages either start or end with a "haha" 😂😂😂
Same, for real haha - Dr. B
@@pbsstoriednow I want to study for a doctorate just to always sign myself with a Dr. in front
Smileys and things like "LOL" are the equivalent of comedians laughing at their own jokes to let audiences know that it is supposed to be funny, but that doesn't make the jokes funny.
I get into this all time time when trying to express that sarcasm doesn't translate well online. The complaint is usually "But if I told you it was sarcastic it wouldn't be funny". It's not funny now though, because everyone thought you were being serious"
I get that, my sarcasm doesn't translate into synchronis language as well
Yup, one place I comment a lot is Not Always Right (mostly in pun threads), where many stories are about extremely bad/entitled behavior in the retail world and elsewhere. In comment threads there, it's custom to put a "/s" after sarcasm for this very reason, combined with Poe's Law.* Sometimes amplified to things like "(MASSIVE /s, obviously)". In contrast, in some online roleplays I'm in, things like sarcasm are shown through descriptions to our in-character chat dialog, much like you would in a book or a short story. (e.g., [Name] rolls his eyes. "Yah, that'd be REALLY great...") * Without some external indicator, it's hard to tell the difference between something genuinely extreme and a _parody_ of something extreme.
@@richard4991synchronous 🙂
In China, we use specific memes or emojis to express sarcasm. The most common one is the Doge
Yeah, there’s a degree that is so absurd I just assume sarcasm and hope it’s not serious. But if it’s indicated it doesn’t actually reduce the amusement, and it’s often a relief since you now know it’s not something serious that may be absolutely terrifying to imagine someone believing
Thank you so much for including sign languages! So many times it is ignored.
This is definitely one of those things I try to explain to my non-ling friends. Writing and speaking are both very different, even if they're both ways we use to communicate.
It's a testament to the editing and Erica's charisma that I come to these videos again and again for edu-tainment, despite my zero interest in the field of linguistics, Great work as always!
Yup she's got a ton of charisma. Seems like she's be a blast at a party
I'm even interested in the topic (:
Yes, she's really fun to watch. But not a doctor.
@@dirkdiggler.Stop trolling
I'm playing the long game-one day you'll wake up and be like, wait, linguistics is really cool! 🤓 - Dr. B
The show’s intro (music, font, and cartoon) is such a throwback to the short educational shows I remember from watching PBS as a kid.
I have the opposite problem, I have so much anxiety around texting and would much rather FaceTime or talk on the phone
Another interesting thought is that there is also a separate maturity factor involved in asynchronous communication. You can tell who is fluent in the A-speak (someone who grew up with social media/cell phones) whereas older generation folks tend to be younger and more happy-go-lucky with their texts and messages! And to top it off, you have the younger gens constantly creating their own linguistic language and culture too. Dr. B always spittin and hittin gems to the internet folks. Everyone should appreciate these more!
It's always fun watching people learning the unspoken social codes too as they transition from school towards work, and have to learn that different levels of formality have very different rules. Rules which have no real justification or consistency behind them, and are seldom spoken of openly - but you're still going to get looked down upon if you use an emoji in a workplace communication. Then the boss has to vaguely attempt to explain a rule they don't even consciously understand themselves, beyond a vague feeling that it's not appropriate for a reason they can't quite articulate.
Upside down smiley absolutely has a speaking equivalent. That equivalent is that hard to describe pained smile of thinly veiled suffering
oops, i thought the upside-down smiley was used to denote sarcasm.
I often use it to mean, "Crazy, isn't it?"
Due to how some interactions in social media and how text has some influence in how currently some people communicate the difference in talking and typing has shifted a little. Some people's expressiveness vary to being more open and coded also depends on them as an individual. I notice some people can be reserve or open regardless of how they communicate; texting and phone call and in person. While some can be vocal while talking and reserved while texting or through emails.
This hits different when you're neurodivergent.
I still use periods frequently with no intention of being ominous or rude. Also, while I understand some cases in which it is used, I feel like the skull emoji has become so overused that it's started to lose whatever meaning it was originally meant to convey.
Is it correct to say that the skull emoji is used when someone is "cringing hard"? 😅 In my German social bubble nobody uses them yet, I've only seen skull emojis in English conversations. And I wonder if I misinterpret them.
@@Hammerbruder99 As far as i'm aware the skull emoji is just gen z's laughing emoji. so instead of 😂they would use 💀.
As someone who's been trying to adapt to internet chat for a long time - and as a writer of fiction - MAN did a lot of this hit home! I am one of those folks who does tend to use punctuation (including full stops, yes). It's just habit! But I've learned through my interactions with folks younger than myself and folks more experienced with various forms of chat, to kind of relax that a bit or add those gesture-like emojis and so forth. Another thing I've seen on Discord a lot is the use of a slash and a word (or even shortened word) - /gen, for instance, and (frequently!) /sarcasm; I think some folks also use parentheses this way. Though I've mostly seen THAT on Twi- whatever that's getting called this week... But there's a definite trend towards more clarity and more agreement on what MAKES clarity in these situations, and it's absolutely fascinating to understand that we're literally building a new facet of human language in real time every day this way!
Do not give in to the lack of punctuation!
@@LindaC616 I think it depends on the length and complexity of the sentence whether punctuation is helpful or not. I learned that it's even better to avoid full-stops in short answers because they add a lot of seriousness and determination to an answer, which isn't appropriate in casual conversations during online freetime activities. Especially when you're joking! Most of the time my sentences become longer though and if I don't want them to sound too stiff and earnest, then I would just use emojis or old school emoticons. ^^ Because I'm not familiar with tone indicators yet. 😅
@@Hammerbruder99 I have begun to use more emojis as well, but I think that the distinction you make between free time activities and professional work is crucial. To be quite honest, I sometimes see comments on KZhead that just make me exhausted to read them. And I will sometimes ask the OP to go back and try reading their comment out loud. Unfortunately, having top 30 years, I see that this is quickly bleeding and to academic work and professional life, and that just limited to free time activities.
Slash sarcasm and /s have in fact been around for ages on old-school message boards that still endure in the form of Reddit and 4chan. The likes of /facepalm have been supplanted by emojis in most corners, but I think that the nuance of sarcasm can still escape from a simple eyeroll emoji if you don't just state it outright in written form.
@@carsonm7292 have to admit, I'm not familiar with the older message boards; my first text-as-conversation experiences were in Yahoo Chat rooms in the mid-1990s. I somehow missed out on a HUGE part of the beginnings of all this! But that's good to know, that it's not really a "new" thing, just one that gets rediscovered all the time. The /gen (for genuine) was a new one to me, even though it's likely just as venerable as /s !
My wife and I started using Slack when it came out primarily because we had played Glitch. (Slack was the communication tool developed in-house for the Glitch development team as well as for in-game chat, IIRC.) One of the great features of Slack's direct messaging is that it will display "user is typing..." while the other person is working on a reply. Unfortunately, sometimes is isn't my wife, but one of the cats. 😼
😅 whatsApp does the same thing
I'd love to see a follow-up video exploring different habits and preferences demonstrated by various groups: why some of us (myself included) are more comfortable with asynchronous communication, weird generational quirks (e.g. ending sentences with ellipses -- a far more ominous choice than a simple period imo), and so on.
The generational quirks could probably fill several videos!
@@LindaC616 In the meantime, Gretchen McCulloch goes into a bunch of them in her book, _Because Internet._ (I bought it a few years ago; definitely a recommended read if you're into this!)
Okay, it took me a second to realize the Slack "you've got a message" sound was in the video, not my actual slack client. XD thanks for that.
WOW, this episode was AMAZING. It's so interesting how we communicate differently nowadays. It's also incredible how we kindda don't think too hard about those changes and it's impacts... Thanks for the great video =P Greetings from Brazil ^_^
I love this series so much. The presentation by both Dr. Brozovsky and the editors is excellent, and the information is always thought-provoking and interesting.
That wink emoticon, even before pictograph emoji, is priceless if you want irony or sarcasm to be interpreted correctly. Then, if you are really nerdy, there’s the sarcasm switch, “/s”.
This: 😉 and this: 😜 😊
@@-Thauma- I’m old - I remember ASCII and I still use the text versions. I can also read and write cursive. XD
@@katebowers8107 that's awesome 😎👍
I guess it beats intentionally lengthening or misspelling words to match your vocal intonation
The slack notification ding always triggers my flight or fight response lol
If I'm not mistaken, while doing sarcasm on text, people would just exaggerate the text or add punctuation (if they usually don't). For example, "Haha, that's funny." or "You're obviously the best.". People can also add sarcasm by using the rolling eyes emoji.
You’re so intelligent Dr. Brozovsky, I love listening to you 😊❤👍🏾🔥🔥🔥 Sometimes I have difficulty choosing which is better, synchronous or asynchronous communication, but having access to both is definitely awesome
I get about 0.01% smart per minute. I need to let it build up if I'm going to express myself as something other than a moron
I find myself more comfortable with asynchronous communication, as it enables me to express my feelings and ideas with greater ease and clarity. When conversing in person or over the phone, I encounter more difficulty in both conveying my thoughts and understanding others. This isn't due to any speech issues on my part, but the level of difficulty in asynchronous communication feels notably less - about 1x, compared to 5-10x in synchronous interaction. This preference might be indicative of neurodivergent behavior. It could be intriguing to explore this pattern in a follow-up video, shedding light on why some individuals, including myself, gravitate towards this mode of communication.
It might be related to your age group, as well. Having taught 30+ years, I've seen a dramatic increase in social anxiety which manifests in an aversion to face to face conversations
@@LindaC616could it be the other way around, an aversion to speaking in person because more and more communication is online? I don't think the generations are that different. But talking in person or text are both skills that have to be practiced and people are more anxious of doing things they don't have mastery over, especially in front of an audience. I'm almost 40, and it took me a minute to get used to communicating by text. But if I were 20, I might have some difficulty with speaking in person. I still prefer to talk in person, but I'm less anxious about communicate by text. In any case, I'd say neither form of communication is better. If you live in the 19th century, you should probably learn to ride a horse. If you live in the 20th, it's probably not that big a deal if you don't know how to ride a horse, but perhaps you live on a ranch and need some knowledge. You should use either form of communication or mix both to fully enjoy your current society :)
@jodiehudson1830 well, I'm older than you, but not THAT old 😄. I started teaching at 21. There definitely IS correlation. But I'm also thinking about all the times I have seen comments from young people on videos where they talk about, for example, the fact that their mother sent them to the cash register to pay for something when they were 10, and they almost burst into tears. Where introversion is interpreted as "I shun all direct contact with people" and it's worn as a badge of honor. I think that social anxiety is becoming too much of a crutch/excuse, and I say that as someone who was painfully shy until I was twenty-five (as in if you looked at me cross-eyed I would cry). You're definitely right in that both are going to be necessary skills going forward, but what I see happening now is that we have not left the wave of people who eschew direct contact and communication with other humans. It may be a silly example, but if you look at chimpanzees who were raised among humans or in petting zoos, you often see that it's hard to integrate them into a troop of others in sanctuary, because they don't know how to read other chimpanzees' body language, and they haven't acquired the necessary socialization skills. I could see that easily playing out this way among humans, if people who are under 25 and dependent on technology the way they are continue on that path.
@@LindaC616 I hesitate to say it's used as a crutch. I think it has more to do with the fact like you said we are going thru a transition period with people that grew up communicating pre internet and people that grew up communicating post internet. And people generally like to think positively about their own experiences and life. So they may appear to you or I that they are proudly using it as a crutch but I think really they are saying, "We buy the majority of the stuff we want online, and when we go into stores, we are encouraged to use the self checkout line as much as possible. I don't feel comfortable talking with a cashier but there's really no need to in today's world and I shouldn't be made to feel lesser if I lack your generation's skills." I work in animation. When I started, we drew on paper, now everything is done on the computer. With that, you see a general decline in people's ability to draw. Not only a decline, but I often encourage people to draw out their ideas, not to see a slick drawing but to understand their thinking before they animate a scene. Younger people don't like showing you their drawings. In that regard, we are very different in how we approach our scenes, they are very shy about it. But the truth is I had to know how to draw out my ideas, there was no other way. If you didn't draw out your ideas first, you risked drawing out your scene that didn't satisfy what the director wanted. And traditional animation lacks the immediate shortcuts and time saving tools that computer animation makes possible so redoing scenes in traditional animation is not ideal. Today, they have other options like filming themselves, writing their ideas on slack, doing a rough pass on the computer with the character puppet, etc. And they are far more comfortable using those, and better at it than me. I like drawing because that's my conception of an artist, but I see no lack of creativity if computer animators can't draw as well as traditional animators. The fact is they don't have to for their job. And in terms of communication, during the pandemic when I managed a team of 12 animators remotely, I was far more outside my element than they were. I had morning zoom calls every other day not just to impart information, but to check on them, ask them about their day, their weekend etc. Despite how much I tried, for the most part, I'd say 80 percent was me talking and them listening. They officially said they appreciated the zoom calls, and knew other teams would go weeks without seeing each other over zoom, but I'm sure they thought, "We can do this over text but we will humor the old man." I do think everything comes off with tradeoffs and we should make sure as a society that people don't lose more than they gain with any particular technology or way of doing things. I think there's elements of mentorship and training for young people that could potentially be lost without in person interactions, and perhaps we need new methods to replicate the same results in a remote world. But I don't see young people today dependent on technology. I think they are overall well adapted to the technological landscape they live in. If they are chimps raised by humans who's ability to communicate with other chimps have atrophied, then they are chimps that will never be returned to a chimp community. They live among the technology that's not going anywhere but integrating more and more into society, and in and of itself, I don't see anything wrong with that.
@jodiehudson1830 I agree with you for the most part. I have a sister who is fabulously gifted artistically, and two of her sons inherited it. One of them became a graphic artist, but I learned much later in life that he uses a projector to throw things up onto the wall and starts his drawings from there. My sister and I could do free hand, although she was way better than I. I still can't help but feel like it's "cheating", at least a little bit. So yes, I know what you mean about the abilities and the technology. But on rhe other hand, what I also see, having been with students for over 30 years now, is that this social anxiety is crippling to them. And that is problematic. We have seen an exponential increase in the number of students needing counseling. Students walk around campus with noise-canceling headphones on, not because they're listening to music, but as a way of not talking to anyone whom they might encounter on their way. They spend the 10 or 15 minute break that they get during a night class scrolling on their phones rather than talking to the person sitting next to them. Students raise their hands and make a point, and the professor responds with "okay", as if to say "I hear you", and the student has to leave the class because they're having a panic attack (after raising their hand and making a point). That's beyond a preference; it has become more than an inconvenience at that point. The helicopter parents are not only swooping in with respect to grades, but are starting to attend job interviews with their children.
Voice-only communication is the only medium that's worked for me. In text, people quickly disappear and just don't communicate. In-person, people stare too much and find my lack of visual feedback confusing.
The mention of Lingthusiasm fills me with joy!
The synchronicity of linguistic mediums definitely feels like a spectrum to me, which was touched on when the difference in expected response times between email and slack was mentioned. But this very apparent to me because I’m a very avid user of virtual reality. While you wouldn’t think a conversation in VR would feel much different from a zoom call, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The reintroduction of gesture, body language, and spatial audio make VR conversations feel much more like face to face ones. My brain fully buys into this being a face to face synchronous conversation, and that is only disrupted by the occasional lag or latency issue
With chatting here in the Philippines, we usually end a sentence with "haha" or many extra letters like "thank youuuu" to indicate friendliness or silliness. Sometimes we just have like tonal problems, that causes miscommunication but with those small things, from a rude or monotone attitude, it becomes nicer or casual message which is actually the case in the first place
Misunderstanding is probably the cause of most conflicts, even wars. I'm glad to hear we are still evolving ways to communicate more clearly. I am also of the strong belief that we haven't discovered all the words yet.
(Age indicator incoming…) I immediately thought of one type of asynchronous spoken communication when you were giving those examples, though it’s becoming rarer: voice messages (via voicemail or in the olden days, answering machines for landline phones. Google it, kids!). I remember sometimes extended message exchanges, usually when schedules for being able to talk directly didn’t match up. It wasn’t unusual to punctuate a message with some variation of “tag, you’re it!” during the back and forth, lol. That’s the only example of that I can think of off the top of my head. This was great! It’s funny (maybe partly related to my age, probably at least partly disability-text based communication is slow and often laborious for me, including this comment!), but I’m generally more comfortable and efficient with spoken calls than text, the opposite of lots of folks (especially younger ones), as you noted. Language and communication are fascinating!
What an excellent topic. Fabulous presentation.
This video was so perfectly done!!
I like Erica’s straightforward explanation of things, yet easy to understand. Great job as always.
As a stem major who typically do not appreciate liberal arts degrees, she really does make linguistic very very very interesting. I love your work, Dr Brozovsky!
As someone who finds any type of written communication much more difficult, thank you! I now finally has an explanation for the next time someone asks me "but why don't you just write what you think?" well, cause I think in talking and hand gesturing mostly
I appreciate the recognition of sign languages as equally valid and worthy of mention
when i read the title of this video, i just knew you'd be quoting gretchen mcculloch 😄 her book 'because internet' is an eye-opener. i love the video as always! great explanation from dr B
Love it ❤ another great video as usual. I wish lessons in schools are taught this way. Super interesting, informative, and very entertaining. Everything is highly thought out and presented clearly and cleverly. Can't wait to see more Otherwords videos 😘❤️
I just feel happy knowing there's a new episode from Dr Erica 😆 and as always, as funny and informative as ever 🤣
The editing technique used in this video is fantastic! Especially the "Zoom" part, it's amazing how the time can be mastered so well! Thanks for all the hard work!🤩
GIFs and Memes are my favourite form of gestures in texting.
My friends and i had to specifically denote a character combo to show sarcasm ( adding "~~~" 3 tilde to the end of a message) to mks sure we were communicating it correctly over text-only channels
I appreciate the particularly clever use of examples in this one. 🙌🏻
Just discussed this exact topic last week in my Purposive Communication class. Perfect video as a reviewer!
Perfect timing! - Dr. B
So true. I tend to use text or e-mail to convey information but speech for emotions, texture and understanding. I also use full sentences and punctuation in text for clarity and concise information transfer. It's like text is the foundation and framework of a house while voice is the fine detail, color scheme and furnishings. Also, you need an inverted semicircle at the bottom of your ear rings to complete the sequence. lol
italization is a great way of expressing internal thought processes
Erica really sells these videos thumbnails with her expressions
What a delightful surprise having Gretchen and Lauren pop up in this video, I love their podcast!
I do feel like I have more textual chemistry with people. I need to practice my voice note skills.
Dr Erica is always excellent with the info she provides
always a good day when a new otherwords comes out!!
Adding this as a resource for my business communications classes.
Here is an asynchronous comment: *Otherwords* is one of my favorite KZhead series.
I hope you guys can keep on coming up with more videos ❤
another awesomazing episode. thank you fo diz, dr. b!!!!!! 💝😍😘💎🌟👑💟
I love this show, it's always so fascinating!
Had some really good chuckles with this one
2:17 One thing you might have forgotten or simply not known about, in text conversations, tone indicators can be used. These are most often used by and for those with autism who may struggle to understand the tone without an indicator, even in spoken words. They are usually a "/" followed by a shortened version of a word and are placed at the end of a sentence or paragraph. For example, to show that your tone is serious, you use "/srs" at the end of your statement.
One thing I do a LOT, and that I've seen other people do, is use emojis as punctuation. I essentially use them as tone indicators, or as a substitute for inflection. It makes it a lot easier for my meaning to be understood when talking via text or instant message.
Could you address subtitles/closed captions versus spoken word/signed communication? I always find it difficult to follow foreign language content with subtitles since the tone varies from word to word, so it's hard to tell which tone went with which word, but it seems many others are more open to what I'm perceiving as ambiguity.
Fascinating!
I think it is so cool that I am living through this time of great change in communication styles. I am living through a specific time in history.
Now I understand why I feel more comfortable texting than talking.
Great video! Love to see stuff from youz! Can you do a video on conterfactual inference??
Really good episode.
Of all the times Dr. B has made me laugh in the series, 1:23 is definitely meme worthy 😂
Love how you included sign in synchronous communication
1:19 After hearing this example, I immediately thought of leaving messages for people on the phone; mainly to businesses. I'm still waiting for a call back from a school and it is the next day. Not all spoken communication is synchronous, especially when technology is involved.
In asynchronous communication, whenever somebody does use a filler word, it has a different purpose. This would have been an interesting part of this video. Like when you text “ummmmm” it’s another way of saying “WTF” or “excuse me, what?”
Thank you.
Another great video!
Texts are the HARDEST!!!! I have to think really hard about each word.... And how the person might interpret it without tone, facial expressions or body language. It's so much easier to communicate in person where i get feedback. I can rephrase it if they dont understand. With a text or email, i dont know if they understood it or not.
Brilliant!
In text, you could have time to think what you want to express. But in talking, its communication on the spot.
tone tags are also a way to convey the tone of your message in order to avoid miscommunication and misinterpretation. for example: /ij : inside joke /m : metaphorical /s : sarcastic we use them like this: _yeah, i would love to /s_
I've seen /j for joking and /lh for light hearted, but I think there are many more which I'm not familiar with yet. I really should look them up honestly.
In Japanese the tilde can be appended to a text message to indicate trailing off in a light-hearted way. Like this~
@@TheOnyomiMaster oh yes, and this style has even become a trend in the west due to the popularisation of japanese culture in the form of animes, j-pop, etc.
Thank you
Forgive me while I gush with the crowd. Every time Erica's stuff shows up on my phone, I end re-remembering why I subscribed in the first It's guided rabbit holes of info with a little wisdom sneaking in there somehow.
A period isn't ominous, it indicates that the sentence is complete.
in proper writing yes, but in casual writing generally not. unless you're typing multiple sentences, in which case the period is still useful for denoting the end of a sentence. but if it's just a short thought or single sentence, a period can make the sentence feel pointed, as if the writer were upset with you. eg, "see you when you get home" feels casual, but "see you when you get home." feels like i might be in trouble or something.
@@dursty3226 honestly when I see "proper" vs "casual" my brain tends to interpret it as 'correct" vs "kazy". Writing is an important thing in my life though so I cannot conceed to other view points even if they might be valid also.
Great as usual, Dr. B!!! (And I'm not being sarcastic)...
i love this
Keep in mind that a thumbs up was accepted by a court to be an offer acceptance, not just backchanneling to communicate "message received"
Part of me was curious if the video was going to touch on the use of tone tags online, especially among online neurodivergent communities. I myself rely on them quite a lot, as I find it to be very useful in terms of accessibility and also just communication in general.
To put it in video game terms, one is real time and the other is turn-based. The latter gives you time to think instead of reacting under a time pressure, but it's less dynamic and feels less "natural"
🇬🇧🗣️I notice my English changes on depends who I am talking to or what channel I am using for communication. I am more formal on writing and typing on commemt sections than chatting with my friends. And my use of words if different on which community I react into.
As someone who supports users by chat, I can say that it is 100% different from doing the same support by phone. Having a backspace key is hugely impactful, though I lose the fact that people can hear my tone.
For myself, I get more nervous the more impersonal the communication becomes. Talking one-on-one is easier for me than talking on a phone. Talking on a phone is easier for me than leaving a message, whether it's a verbal, email, or text. That's why it takes longer for me to respond, esp. when I'm trying to re-record messages or reply to email and text. Did what I leave convey the right info, did I screw up? How much did I screw up?
Brilliant 🎉
I'm curious how this works with NVLD's. I often hear from my speech & language therapist friend, that a lot of the children she works with, struggle with aspects of synchronous communication.
I haven't read the other 140 comments yet, but I have a strong phobia of speaking on the phone with strangers; I have no phobia of typing (email or text), but I also don't have any issues with talking face to face, even with a stranger. So the synchronous vs asynchronous argument completely falls flat for me. I never thought about it before, but maybe there is something about the lack of non-verbal expressions and gestures that created my distaste for phone calls, and typing gives me the luxury of time to craft my way beyond those limitations
Yeah it's definitely easier to communicate from face to face when you know what those non-verbal expressions mean. In my personal case I was actively taught on them in my childhood after an early autism diagnosis. They would've never come naturally to me, I had to memorize them just like vocabulary in Latin lessons.
I am always astonished at how people will read my comments on KZhead videos and think that I said something insulting, when I was being supportive, funny, or otherwise harmless. Sometimes, I can't for the life of me find the alternative meaning in my words that others found to be derogatory. People are extremely easily insulted/offended. Fortunately, this happens only occasionally. Also fortunately, I don't believe that this has happened to me with text messages...yet.
One of the things I've noticed in comparing written comments vs spoken (the Wired celebrity-on-social-media series shows this well) is that something which is about as harmless & tolerant as you can get when spoken, can come across as vaguely threatening when typed out. It's weird, but suggests there's a LOT more nuance in internet-speak than one might guess, as well as a lot of code-switching
@@meganofsherwood3665 That is so true! I recently insulted someone on KZhead by wording a praiseworthy comment about tattoos that she found to be disparaging--and in more than one way. I was stunned and heartbroken, because now I have another enemy for life. Alas.
@@GregoryTheGr8ster I can see why your comments piss people off.
@@jwhite-1471OHHOLYLORDINHEAVEN, really? Could you explain/elaborate? I never use swear words in comments, which is the same standard as I abide by in real life.
I'm definitely in camp no phonecalls. For me they are the worst of both worlds, no gesture or facial expression to aid meaning but also no time to think of or edit a response.
5:55 I've long wondered what meaning the upside-down smiley is actually supposed to convey. I just use it to mean "Go figure!" or "How about that!" or "The more you know!" or to send an innocently cheeky/quirky smile+shrug. By who knows, maybe I've been usng it all wrong? 🙃
at least among my friends it conveys more of a "smile through the pain" or like "something bad just happened but i cant really do anything about it" or "whelp! /shrug"
For me personally, the way you used it after your last sentence was perfect. Of course, it's open to individual interpretation, but reading your comment, I was like, yes that's exactly the right emoji! The meta element is just a bonus - Dr. B
I remember when Facebook came out and was exclusive for college. Was the first time I used the internet to communicate with people beyond email. I remember me in my friends in the labs staying up late that night we signed up for Facebook. For some reason, we just wrote messages on each others wall while telling each other we wrote and thought it was funny. I remember thinking, "We can talk in person or over the phone, we have email, what is the purpose of this?" 😅 I also refused to recognize the importance of emojis for communication for a year or two, especially for jokes. I was pretty sure we should stick to the English language to communicate, full stop... I also remember when Twitter came out a few years later, I thought, "You can do that on Facebook, it's the status update! Are they going to make us sign up for various parts of Facebook?!?" I'm glad no one asked me to invest in these companies early on as turning them down would have been one of the regrets of my life... I didn't grasp asynchronous communication fast enough 😅
The comedian Arj Barker had a hilarious bit about the loss of information in texting, and he suggested that there should be fonts that help convey the message. "Hey, man, great party the other night!" "Oh, yah, thanks for the sarcasm, jerk!" "Oops, I accidentally used Sarcastica when I meant to use Good Times Roman."
Oh it's easy to show sarcasm in text. It goes /s. I think it comes from old HTML You would use like and then to indicate the end of the tag
So cool
The Zoom call interruption was almost too "real". Ha ha.
Asynch communication will be the rule for deep space explorers communicating with Earth or other distant locations
Love this series 🙂 ~_~