Why Written Communication Might Not Be the Best Way to Communicate
Have you ever received a text and wondered “What do they mean?” or “How do I respond to this?” Maybe you have sent an email or commented on a social media post and received a response that seemed to come from leftfield, thinking “How on earth could they have possibly thought that’s what I meant?”
While so many of us believe that we are far better communicators in writing, the fact is that we simply are not. In a study detailed in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think?, we learn that we tend to overestimate our ability to communicate via writing, and it often leads us to draft messages whose meaning is unclear. However, that is not entirely our fault. Written communication can be quite ambiguous. It does not include certain non-verbal cues that are found in verbal or face to face communication such as tone of voice or facial expression, making miscommunication more likely. Humor and sarcasm are especially difficult to convey in written communication and may be taken literally and even construed as insults. And if you are like me, dripping in sarcasm, you may have been misunderstood too.
While personal communications are a little bit easier to navigate due to helpful tools such as emoticons, memes, and gifs that help better convey those nuances found in verbal communication that are missing in writing, miscommunications can still occur. Knowing this, it is important to be extra cautious in written business/professional communications. Be aware of your audience, and understand even those who may know you well, may still misunderstand your joke or sarcasm. It is prudent to make sure you are keeping your communications as literal as possible, leaving little room to misinterpret. When possible, conduct the conversation in person or pick up the phone and call. Nothing beats face to face communication, however verbal is a close second.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Kruger, J., Epley, N., Parker, J., & Ng, Z. (2005). Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 925-936. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.925
Richards, R. (2019, February 11). The Disadvantages of Written Communication. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://bizfluent.com/info-8130487-disadvantages-written-communication.html