Source: Observing the Facebook statuses and comments of my peers. 3/11/2012 at 8:00 pm.
Relation: An activity that was done during class that involved stating if a speaking tone was possible, inappropriate, or appropriate for a variety of communication technology devices (Texting, YouTube, Facebook, etc.).
Description: When things are said over the internet, they can be taken in ways that the writer did not mean. In order to lighten up the mood, or hint at the tone, people add "hints" to let the reader know that they are joking. These hints include the following: lol, rofl, lmao, lmfao, wtf, ftw, haha, and emoticons. I believe that statuses that use sarcasm as their form of humor need these humor hints in order for people to know they aren't being serious.
Analysis: My experience taught me that, if someone does not know you very well, they perceive things differently than someone who does. When talking to people that I do not normally talk to, I noticed that I use a lot of tone hints in order to lighten up the mood. Without them, people could get offended; however, people could get offended with them too. I have noticed a lot of people making jokingly offensive comments to their friends but they always add some time of hint that they are just being silly. For example, one person said "Madi, you're a bitch! lol ;) " (name is made up). The person replied with another insult and another humor hint as though their insults were playful and somewhat flirty. In class, we had to list if things were possible, inappropriate, or appropriate. Anything is possible to say on the internet but it depends on what your humor hints are to determine if it is appropriate.
I never thought of this topic in that way! It just seems so automatic to add a tad-bit of humor in a sentence where you are meaning to be funny (intending someone will read it, not hear it). But I never thought of it as way to make sure people aren't offended with sarcasm and that we use "hints" to do so. It is a really important thing to do, especially if someone cant hear a person's tone of voice of what they were intending to say. Another important aspect I find while typing something that is important to including for someone to read is punctuation. Without proper punctuation, something can misinterpret the typer's intended meaning of sentence or phrase. Two big examples I've seen of this over the internet is:
ReplyDelete1) "hell go to the market" when it should be "he'll go to the market."
or
2) "Let's eat grandma!" when it should be "Let's eat, grandma!"
Punctuation saves!
I agree that it helps to use the proper acronyms and emoticons when communicating with someone over the internet. People do often perceive wall postings on Facebook the wrong way, because they don't fully know the person who posted it. I prefer to talk with people over the phone or in person just because I am so poor at sarcasm and joking around on the internet.
ReplyDeleteHumour on Facebook do have their pros and cons when it comes to joking. When I'm on Facebook and I want to sound more sarcasting and I will use the emoticons to ensure that my comment isn't too hurtful or misinterpreted. Using the emoticons though, are risky because they may try to lessen the sincerity of the comment, but some people will misinterpret that comment and consider it to mean more than it meant.
ReplyDeleteI liked your topic choice for this week. However I do not think I am fully commited to agreeing. I feel like you need to talk about nonverbal communication and how this plays such a significant role in physical communication. People utlize emoticon, and text talk, because they are making up for that lack of nonverbal communication. What is your input on this?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I know that I text emoticons because I feel as though someone might misinterpret what I am trying to say. Everyone interprets things differently and it is hard to fully make someone understand your thoughts over texting or the internet.
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