The internet is a treasure trove of written material. With the increased penetration of broadband internet service, video and audio are now gaining a significant foothold. However, written communication remains the real backbone of the internet.
This certainly has its share of disadvantages. It can, at times, be difficult to pick up on sarcasm, when someone is joking or not, and other facets of communication that become much more evident when the actual words are coupled with body language and tonal inflections. Miscommunication occurs on a pretty regular basis due to those missing cues.
However, it also offers a distinct advantage. Being able to read someone's thoughts can offer us the opportunity to sit back and simply read what was written. It gives us a chance to really attempt to comprehend what is before us. Through the writer's use of language, scope and tone, we can really come to an understanding of what they were trying to say. No visual cues to distract, no vocal inflections to prejudice us. Just pure reading comprehension.
So why is it so dang hard?
Seriously, I am just about fed up with it. Reading comprehension is taught to us from the day we start school. It goes hand in hand with listening comprehension. Listen to and follow directions. Gah, I think we heard that about thirteen thousand times a day in Kindergarten. So you would think it would have sunk in, no?
Apparently, for some people, it has not. I am guilty of it at times as well. We rush into an article, a news story, a forum post, or email armed to the teeth with preconceived notions of what the author is going to say, what spin they are going to put on a particular topic.
And the next thing you know, we didn't even bother to actually read what was written.
Few things set me off like this. I know I can miscommunicate at times. But, to be arrogant, I think that (thanks to many years of learning and teaching how to write) most of the time I make myself pretty clear. Sure, I have my own writing voice, everyone does, but I don't think it obfuscates my point.
So when I can tell someone didn't even bother to read what I wrote, and just replied to what they wanted me to have written, well, I just want to reach through the electric ether and smack the hell out of them.