Electronic Tone

What do I consider electronic tone?  The tone that you assign in your head to what other people have written, whether on social media or in an email.

Am I guilty?  You bet!!  I have no doubt that I frequently read something in a tone that it was not intended.  We all view the world through our own filter and electronic media is no exception.  In fact, it is probably more prevalent in cyberspace as we don't have facial expressions and body language to supplement our perception.

The ramifications of your electronic tone can be devastating.  What is typed as humor can be perceived as a personal insult, resulting in destroyed friendships.  Admittedly, you have to wonder about the validity of a friendship that can be dissolved by a few typed words but it happens and happens frequently.  And what if you happen to be in a bad mood?  That moment of lashing out in a post or an email is out there forever.  You can delete it, you can apologize...but like words you speak...it can't be taken back.

The lesson to be learned?  That we all need to watch our electronic tone, even more than our actual tone.  There are people reading who will color what we say with their own perception.  While it's impossible to please everyone, we can take care with our words...both written and spoken.

And those are my random thoughts this morning...