| Links Back to Main
|
There are many ways in which computer mediated communication can be compared and contrasted with face to face communication. One medium through which people can communicate is electronic mail, or e-mail, and this has its own qualities which differ from all other forms of communication. The first part of an e-mail message is usually the greeting. From a sample selection of twenty-six e-mail messages, not one began with the standard letter writing greeting, "Dear..." Instead, many began with just the recipient's name or the recipient's name preceded by "Hey." One message even began with "Hey Angela:"; even though the recipient's real name is Erica. Another common way to begin a message was with no greeting at all. Many writers jumped directly into the content of their e-mails. The content of an e-mail message may also differ from the content of other forms of communication. Because the conversants cannot see each other's appearance, they must rely on other cues to help them interpret what they read. Although in face to face communication (FtF), each participant can see the dress of the other person and use this to draw conclusions about the person and what they are saying; in e-mail this is not possible. Instead, clues can be drawn from the appearance of the message. If an e-mail message is scattered with misspellings, slang phrases, improper capitalization, or poor grammar, then it could be equivalent to a laidback or relaxed conversation with a friend. An example of this comes from the following e-mail sent from one friend to another: "Hi!!! how are you doing??/ i'm in a really good mood b/c i just got my philosophy exam back and i got an A on it..I was so sure that it was orrible..literally, it is 6 pages of B.S." The inconsistent capitalization indicates that little attention was paid to the appearance of the message. This could be attributed to the fact that the two participants are close friends and they do not feel the need to impress each other with appearance, comparable to talking with one's friend while wearing sweatpants and a tee shirt. Another example of this phenomenon was sent from a male to his female friend from the previous summer. He writes, "but truthfi\ully we weren't dating so what was it good question I don't think that the "relationship dictionary" could have an exact definition for it..." The lack of correct grammatical structure in his sentences, as well as the misspellings, can lead the reader to believe that the two participants know each other well enough to neglect close attention to the appearance of the message. This inattention to appearance does not seem to occur as often when the two participants are not close friends. For example, in an e-mail from a professor to a student, the professor writes, "You will start back to lab the week of March 23. You will need a rock and mineral kit as described on the syllabus. My best guess is that you will start back to lecture that same week." In this message, all of the capitalization, spelling, and grammar are correct, indicating that the message is more formal than one between two friends. Not only can these grammatical elements signify the content of an electronic message, but certain symbols can be used to represent facial expressions. A prevalent symbol throughout all of the sample e-mails was the following: :-). This was used to represent a happy face, and the writers used it when they wanted to indicate that they would use a smile when communicating their previous sentence. One e-mail writer typed, "Were those enough, or the right kind of thing? Let me know. I'm glad to help you :-) ". The writer wanted to show the recipient that she truly wanted to help, so she employed the "smiley face" symbol to carry across her point. Another writer uses the symbol after her closing. She writes, "love ya & miss ya, Anne :) ". It seems that e-mail writers find this symbol very useful in portraying their feelings through their messages. It can even be used to lighten the tone of a sarcastic phrase. A female writer employed a quite different use of this type of symbol when she wrote, "Have a physics test tomorrow, and have ballet tonight :-P Oh well, c'est la vie." In this instance, the symbol is a face with its tongue stuck out. This indicates the writer's disgust with her full schedule. These symbols compensate for the lack of visible facial expressions over e-mail by representing the mood of the writer. Another difference between e-mail and other types of communication is the audience that is addressed. In my own personal experience, I have approached many people through e-mail that I never would have communicated with in real life. For instance, I frequently communicate with my academic advisor using e-mail, whereas I would hesitate to call him on the phone or visit his office. The e-mail system is definitely much more convenient and easy to use in this regard. I also communicate more often with a relative from another state than I would if e-mail were not available. This concept also applies to group e-mail messages in which the writer sends one message to a list of different people. An example of this is the following: "HI I JUST WANTED TO WISH ALL OF YOU A HAPPY EASTER BECASUE I AM ON EASTER BREAK!!!!!! YEAH.. ONE MORE CLASS TO GO. SPECIAL MESSAGES.. CINDY.. IT IS SO GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU. I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT THINGS ARE GOOD IN NY..." The writer then continues with a specific message for each of the eleven people on her list. The recipient of this e-mail message informed me that she has a very limited acquaintance with the author of this message, and that if she was not on her list of recipients, my friend would never hear from her. This shows how e-mail can connect people who would otherwise lose contact. However, e-mail does not always bring people together. One female writer even mentions this in one of her e-mails when she writes, "I really cant wait to talk to him 'live and in person' tonight." Obviously, this communicator can see that there are limitations to how personal communication can become through e-mail. Another way in which this is manifested is through an e-mail I received from my brother. The entirety of the message is the following: "Jill, How are you? The first proficiency test was a writing test. Tomorrow is reading. Mom says hi. Dad says hello also. -Andy, Mom, and Dad". Although I usually speak with my family on the phone for at least fifteen minutes each week, over e-mail, the only thing they could think of to tell me was that the proficiency test was covering writing. Obviously, e-mail can make communication less interactive, and therefore, less personal. Another example of this is shown through an e-mail that one friend sent to another about future weekend plans. She writes, "How about Saturday for the movie? Shelly can't go Friday night, so how about 7 or 7:30, whenever the movie starts? Grease is the word!!! Hear from you soon!" While these two friends often spend an hour on the phone trying to make plans because so many other subjects interrupt their real purpose, just four sentences are exchanged over e-mail. Even though the message is less personal than a phone or face to face conversation would be, it is certainly more efficient. This efficiency, though, is dependent on the clarity that the writer imparts to the message. While it might be effective for the group member who writes, "I would like to Sincerely apologize for missing the last class. Unfortunately it was unavoidable, my car wouldn't start. My husband said it was the alternator. I am looking forward to seeing you in class tomorrow," this is not always the case. E-mail is a good medium with which to exchange short, urgent messages, but it is not the best method with which to conduct lengthy conversations. Consider the following message in which a male tries to describe to his female friend what their relationship had been the previous summer. "I don't think that the 'relationship dictionary' could have an exact definition for it and as for the mean/ meant part I don't know about you dearest but to me it is mean not meant would be the proper term its a deep thoughtful thing we got going herebut as far as it being called 'fooling around' it just ain't right (you think you are bad with words tyr being bad with words and short on time)..." Obviously, this writer is having trouble expressing his thoughts clearly in writing. Probably with the help of instantaneous feedback from the recipient about what he is saying, he would be better able to convey his feelings. This would be a case in which FtF communication is more efficient and personal. Although these e-mails have all been sent with the purpose of communicating with a friend or other acquaintance, some e-mails are sent merely for the enjoyment of the reader. For example, there are many forwards that are circulated among the e-mail community which are mainly just funny jokes. One such forward is a collection of "real excuses for missing school." An example of one of these excuses is, "Please exuse Lisa for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot." Since there is no real purpose in this message except for comic relief, it is a form of communication unique to e-mail. One would never call another person and recite a list of jokes, but this is quite common over e-mail. Other forwards are the infamous chain letters which threaten to bring bad luck to the recipient if he or she does not send the message on to a certain number of people in a set amount of time. These also have no value except entertainment. Since the greeting and content of e-mail messages are so different from other forms of communication, it comes as no surprise that the closings of these messages are also unique. Most writers closed by typing only their name or initials. Not many messages from this sample had any kind of closing such as "Sincerely," or "Love," which are often used in letters. However, there are people who create a standard signature containing a name and/or a quote of some type. In this respect, e-mail gains another difference from other communication modes. Obviously, there are many different aspects of e-mail communication. While every writer employs the medium in his or her own way, the common thread seems to be that the less people know each other in real life, the more personal their message will be in comparison to face to face communication. In other words, if I do not know my professor well, then my e-mail to him or her will probably be more personal than any face to face conversation I would have with him. On the other hand, e-mail I would write to a good friend would be less personal than a face to face encounter with her or a telephone conversation. It is the slow pace of interaction over e-mail that produces this effect. Since we can see these characteristics of e-mail, we can apply them to how we write and interpret our own e-mail messages. By choosing our words, symbols, and meanings carefully, we can tap into the benefits that e-mail has to offer. |
This document was created April 26, 1998 and last modified on .
This document has been accessed times.
Please send comments and suggestions to shermarc@miamioh.edu