Can Text Convay Enough

[Reigh7]

When it comes to internet forums can just textual words convey enough.

I say not "enough".

-The lack of human interaction for one.

-The lack of tone of voice.

-Eye contact.

-Mutual respect for each other as human.

-Not having a two way conversation were I can intervene with words to clarify what your saying and you can fine tune how you are saying it.

-No touch of a shoulder or hug when appropriate.

-No quite silences in solitude

-Where is the singing the music.

-The body language to know what were saying and when its gone to far.

I believe this alone can bread a negative culture of communication.

-We want to be heard.

-We don't feel understood.

-Disconnectedness leads to a lack of filter.

-Anonymity can lead to hiding behind facades or acting not like ourselves.

-Maturity is lost, elder Wisdom not seen in our eyes.

-At its worst passive or aggressive personal attacks where anger breeds.

At best we only have a few textual "properties" defined in a limited set by programmers.

-We are programing each other the same way.

-The programed responses follow.

-We act more like there are tiny robots in our heads and actions.

-Human communication defies language. You only need to be in a country without being able to speak the language or care for a child or an ALS adult who's lost their speech capability to know you can communicate so much other then text or even words.

-Social media has taught us that it is social. When in fact it is not social its disconnected at best. We are not living side by side through a screen.

-We loose our ability to get beyond the surface knowledge to Reach the top of Bloom's Taxonomy Knowledge--->Comprehension--->Application--->Analysis--->Synthesis-->Evaluation

-Stuck in a sort of logical loop like a stage of grief Sadness, Anger, Shock, Denial, Bargaining, Testing, Never quite reaching that Acceptance. The Acceptance we need to give to each other in order to learn that kind of mature respect.

I know this next bit is going to be hard I'm framing the band aid pull off. We need to guard our words and hearts in forums as sensitive as this. Our words dramatically effect real lives. It drives the culture we set forth to new nurses. It effects our ability to function. Public opinions formed out of false trust can tear down careers, a person lifetime projects/endeavors, It can drive people from were they might otherwise feel needed, It can effect our own ability to be contributing members of society.

I hope it will be with that respect that responses are written to this and every other forum. Lives can be at stake and this site is just now becoming acutely aware of this. Its time to use this to learn and grow teach those new and young ones the respect we all deserve by communicating that respect to them first and often even in spite of our assumptions or hurts or static beliefs. That is the only path to growth in a world of communications such as the type of the world today.

Read back what you've written twice maybe three times before you say it. That is the primary strength of good self moderation.

[Emergent, RN]

It's good to self moderate, I agree. On the other hand, we aren't responsible for every easily crushed soul who happens to read our opinions.

As a side note, in paragraph 6 of your heartfelt post, you use the word "effect" where you should have said "affect". "Affect" is usually a verb and "effect" most commonly a noun.

affect vs. effect : Choose Your Words : Vocabulary.com

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

We need to guard our words and hearts in forums as sensitive as this. Our words dramatically effect real lives.

Although I agree with the entire theme of your post, I earnestly disagree with basing life's most important decisions on feedback generated from anonymous peoples' internet forum posts.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I hope it will be with that respect that responses are written to this and every other forum.

I believe AN is pretty well moderated, but your hope that "every other forum" will have respectful responses is pretty unrealistic.

[Libby1987]

Your intent is admirable. I can't think of a situation where humanity doesn't somehow have a positive impact.

[Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN]

I should not have to censor myself for your comfort.

[Reigh7]

It's good to self moderate, I agree. On the other hand, we aren't responsible for every easily crushed soul who happens to read our opinions.

As a side note, in paragraph 6 of your heartfelt post, you use the word "effect" where you should have said "affect". "Affect" is usually a verb and "effect" most commonly a noun.

affect vs. effect : Choose Your Words : Vocabulary.com

Nope I meant Effect as in cause and Effect. From your own link

Quote: "Adding to the confusion, effect can also be used as a verb to mean to produce or to cause to come into being. Here's an example that uses it correctly,

A government unable to

effect

any change is a government that will produce no surprises."

[Reigh7]

I should not have to censor myself for your comfort.

Suit-yourself-up when you understand that I do mean Effects not only Affects you may find you are hurting yourself and not me. Some are now finding themselves in a lawsuit over negative comments that turned into actual Slander effecting countless jobs. There would be no reason for the expense of a lawsuit if it did not Effect actual jobs, in turn actual lives, and concrete Effects. That Effect comes back upon the "user" of a site despite the best efforts of a site to moderate and users to self moderation. It is in your best interest to try and self moderate. l do see your choice I'm challenging it.

That is a direct example and there are Affect examples as well. An individual can harm themselves without their own knowledge. In those indirect ways their Affect may in fact be damaging other relationships outside of the specific forum in which they breed their own negativity. The phrase "this is going to hurt me more than you" might be very adept. I have been on these forums for years and the comments often are not informative or even seem to be said in a way to seek understanding. That is the human mentality amongst many indirect forms of communication this forum just happens to share that in common. To err is human and it would be wise to learn and mature from that for not only others sake but also our own.

On that note I hope we can find understanding if not don't expect me to respond to attacks. I hope you also see this is not an attack especially given that I did just say that text is the best suited for conveying intent.

[AllOfMyWat]

I disagree. Text is like the spoken word - Good and bad writers, speakers, and comprehenders.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

Text can lack emotion, and that hinders comprehension and encourages misunderstanding. There is no body language in text.

About affect and effect...Sometimes I can't decide which is correct, so I choose a different word! It's not worth a brain cramp!

[BrendanO, MSN, RN]

There's no emotional deficiency in the skillfully-crafted written word compared to the spoken word. Affect can be more than adequately conveyed in writing by a thoughtful author. However, it is equally incumbent upon every reader to approach topics with the same thoughtfulness.

Poorly-socialized or emotionally unstable people will have problems with oral communications just as easily as with written communications. In many situations, body language and vocal tone can exacerbate inappropriate emotions. Hasty words spoken in anger cannot be recalled from the air.

For some people, being able to reformat, re-read, and review their words later allows them to be more eloquent and more concise in their communications. It's a false assumption that all posts on boards like this are dashed off without serious thought. Extended, complicated discourse is often easier in written form, as the prevalence of monographs and journals, compared to in-person communication, in academic fields attests. That some posters on this board do not treat it like a professional resource is not the fault of the medium; it's the fault of those users, and the opprobrium they receive is not always inappropriate.

The immense benefit of this and other fora like it is the ability to connect large numbers of people in similar situations/professions across time and space. There's no analogue in the history of human communications for the democratic, parallel, and immediate communication capability provided by sites like this. Quite the contrary to your assertion about Bloom, internet resources have eliminated the barrier to entry to the upper tiers of the taxonomy. Good modern pedagogy can concentrate on teaching and refining the skills to process information at more sophisticated levels, as the broad base of relatively fixed knowledge is now freely available worldwide, on demand.

Should sites like this replace deep interpersonal communication for topics of emotional import? Of course not. But if you're looking for solutions to the problems of people who lack a meaningful interpersonal social life, there are far deeper sources of general alienation than professionally-oriented internet message boards; criticize materialism, nationalism, wage slavery, and the lack of compassion in the quite oral public discourse of our many in positions of governmental, corporate, and social leadership. The internet did not make us lose our emotional way, it primarily reflects (and perhaps reinforces, granted) what we've become.

[loriangel14, RN]

Yes it should have been " affect" not "effect". Convey is not spelled with an "a".

I think that when reading responses in a public forum you are going to take things the way you want to. If someone is determined to be offended, they will be.