Post # 1
Member
5428 posts
Bee Keeper
Do you find some posts insulting although the person writing it didn’t mean to be snarky or insulting? There are no “tone of voice” when writing… and that is a major problem on boards like these. You can’t tell if a person is joking (happy face after gives a clue) or genuinely concerned or downright insulting!
Some peoople attack others on the boards and the topic gets closed because people get offended when there was nothing to get offended in the first place. The tone of voice is lacking, you cannot hear HOW the words are meant to be said, so try to read between the lines first before thinking it’s an attack, or PM the poster directly and it may clear things up!
Thanks for “listening” bees!
Post # 3
Member
9483 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
@happyface: A tone can be read through words depending on how it is written. There are many, many words provided to us in the English language. I do understand what you’re saying though. I think people are very quick to type out what they immediately think not realizing it may come off in an unsettling way. =)
I like the idea of PMing someone if you are unsure on their train of thought or what they meant.
Post # 4
Member
2815 posts
Sugar bee
I totally disagree that there is no tone of voice when writing.
We use words in writing to evoke emotion. What words you choose and how you put your words together can drastically change the tone of writing.
I think a lot of people use this as a cop-out to be snarky and get away with it.. lol
Post # 5
Member
2981 posts
Sugar bee
I hear ya. I have a very laid back personality and a witty, often sacrastic sense of humor. I’m not afraid to ‘tell it like it is’ b/c I don’t believe in sugar coating. If something is being treated like crap by an SO, or family member, bridesmaid, etc, I say so. If someone is being forced into a wedding they don’t want, I say so. If something is just plain ridiculous, I say so. But I try to be sure that my intent is well understood with emoticons or explainations or whatnot, but I know I can be blunt and probably came off as snarky at times, even when I wasn’t trying to snark. I try to give others the benefit of the doubt tho. There are a million ways to read something, so if people took more time to explain their intent maybe that would help cut down on hurt feelings over a misunderstanding.