This is a brilliant insight. A book-worthy insight, if I might add. The foundation of a new communications technology manifesto?

As a university professor, I never cease to be amazed at the tone-deaf emails I receive from students. Just the other day, I got this polite little tidbit, with no salutation:

“Why isn’t yesterday’s PowerPoint presentation on Blackboard!?!?”

Which I’m sure was a well-intentioned request by a student who wanted to review the previous day’s material. However, I couldn’t help but read the message as:

“You lazy idiot! Why don’t you get off your fat ass and put the damn presentation on Blackboard!”

Most people require the limitations of body language, vocal cues, etc. to be polite. We are not socialized to write politely, judiciously—-especially not in an age of instant communication and text messaging.

In fact, most college students today have produced more text than I did at their age (instant messaging, emails, facebook, etc.). But the text they’ve produced has been far less formal and required far less thought than the text that we were required to produce in an unplugged world.

(As an aside, I’ve been watching episodes of Homicide: Life on the Streets—-that classic early 90s series set in Baltimore. I’ve been amazed by two things: 1) how different the unconnected world of the early 90s was; and 2) how much the characters on the show accomplish with notepads, telephone calls, and old-fashioned leg work.)