It occurs to me that people tend to convey their message differently when communicating over different mediums. When speaking over the phone, most would say “hello” as their opening statement. When it comes to msn, most would type “hi” or “there?” rather than “hello” when poking for conversation. As for short messages (SMS), they would go straight into the topic without any opening statements.
What’s more is that the tone people used over different communication channels is very different as well. Below cite some of them describing the tone, language and how the conversation is ended among friends over different mediums.
Emails
Tone: Quite Formal
Language: Decent & Structured
Closing Method: Signing off
Facebook
Tone: Causal
Language: Quite Decent & Readable
Closing Method: Change of topic
SMS
Tone: Causal
Language: Quite Decent & Readable
Closing Method: No Reply
MSN
Tone: Extremely Causal
Language: Not so Decent and Readable if I know the terms being used
Closing Method: “Bye” or “Good night” or “Talk to you again”
So with modern technologies, people have different style of opening, addressing issues and closing their conversation.
Consistency
7 years ago
I agree with you! however, I think your familiarity with the person and the content also plays a huge role, especially with regards to emails. When emailing a close friend, my tone wouldn't be formal. It would be as informal as in MSN.
ReplyDeleteThese days, MSN-like conversations can be formal too. This is especially in the case of my friend who was using skype. She was applying for a job through NOC (nus overseas college) and when speaking to her prospective employer, the tone was very much formal, with all the smiley-faces removed.
so i guess, even a single form of communication can have many different tones, languages and closing methods!
A nice observation of a continuum of communication styles ranging from speaking to writing.
ReplyDelete