Mindful Text Message Writing
How many times have you sent an email or text message to someone and later regretted it? Perhaps you realized that you didn’t communicate what you wanted to or said something that might be offensive or hurtful.
And how many times have you been on the receiving end of such a message?
Old vs. New Forms
We’ve all been in this kind of situation, and it’s been recognized for a long time that textual messages are at a very high risk of not conveying what the writer or sender wants them to say. This is because text is lacking in many of the social cues that are present when we speak to each other face to face, such as tone of voice, laughter, and body language. We have evolved to pick up on these even when they’re very subtle. There are all kinds of sensory cues that are completely missing in any form of text-based interaction.
In the old days, people could avoid this kind of miscommunication by writing longer messages. When you write a lot of words, this means you firstly have the time and secondly intend to make the words as clear as possible. These days, messages are becoming shorter. We are often sending each other a few words or sentences — if that.
People also used to write in a very formal manner, whereas these days we see abbreviations and a generally informal tone. One of the benefits of formal language with correct sentences and grammar is that the likelihood of a misunderstanding is very low. You’re following strict rules that everyone knows. When there is jargon, slang, and incorrect grammar, the odds of a mix-up naturally increase.
If you want your writing to be understood in the way that you intended, you should consider making it more formal. You don’t have to go to an extreme and write an essay or novel, but you can slightly increase the formality of your writing and include more full sentences.
Pause and Emphasize Clarity
One way you can be mindful when writing a message is to pause and notice anything you’re saying that could be misinterpreted. At that point, you can add a measure of formality or an extra explanation for the sake of clarity.
With that said, you don’t have to do this across the board — there are countless things we say to people that are unlikely to be misunderstood or viewed as offensive. When talking about a delicate subject, difficult situation, or subject matter that is often misunderstood, stop for a minute and pay attention to what you’re writing. If you think you are treading on sensitive ground, using emojis to drive home what you are trying to convey can be quite helpful.
Much has been written on the internet about “netiquette,” which is proper etiquette when communicating online. Though you can learn all of the rules and guidelines in the world, if you’re writing a message and it doesn’t occur to you in that moment to apply netiquette, mindfulness can get you back on the right track.
Practice pausing and paying attention to what you’re thinking and trying to communicate. Simply put, it can mean the difference between being understood and misunderstood.
