22 | conTEXT

Hello Good Neighbor,

Over the years I've had exchanges in the text world that have been short and sweet, long and foreboding, and sometimes simply messed up. 

We all have fallen prey to the speed at which we can use this medium of communication, in the realm of incorrect punctuation, autocorrect, and even losing context for what we are attempting to say.

It's hard enough when we have face-to-face conversations where we are misunderstood or flubber in our words but when we text, oh my goodness the floodgates are open to interpretation. 

Has this ever happened to you? What you meant to say comes off as odd or malicious? Have you received texts that use simple words and yet they could be taken for better or worse in understanding? I know that I have been on both sides of this and I tend to write in full sentences. How awkward to use actual sentence structure and still come across as being mean or out of touch when in reality, the context is missing. We aren't there. We do not have the body language or visual connection that affords us the opportunity to say what is wrong or avoid a delay in response from the recipient.

There are times that in-person conversations fall into the "deer in the headlights" category, but with texting, that awkward pause or lack of follow up from the other side is odd, offensive, and sometimes sets us up for a whirlwind of emotions when the conversation does not appear to have closure. Worse yet, when you hit reply or send and have not checked what your words are showing up as, your fingers and voice assistant are to blame.

Or are they?

Today I muse on the subject of texting and how we can better use this form of communication. It's still new to many and we don't see the old social norms of follow-up and clarification terms when we are in the midst of texting. We can change that. We can do better by ourselves and by our neighbors.

I'd love to hear your feedback on this and other episodes. Please send your thoughts to mystory@hellogoodneighbor.com or join the conversation in our Facebook Group, Hello Good Neighbor. You can also leave reviews on Google or over at the Apple Podcast platform. We'd love to hear from you.

Thank you for listening and please share this or other episodes you enjoy with your neighbors (anyone you meet).

Tony Slabaugh