Carefully
I carefully choose my words. How many times has my online communication been misunderstood? Recipients hear emotions in my texts that I never intended. A missing exclamation point means I’m not excited. A delayed response is interpreted as disinterest. One cannot be too careful when communicating online.
Inefficiently
Everyone has a preferred means of online communication. Some send texts. Others use Messenger. Many turn to email. A few respond immediately on Telegram or Google Chat. Still others are only found on social media. Ironically, with so many ways to communicate, it is harder than ever to contact someone. If you want to reach a lot of people, you’ve got to be on a lot of different platforms.
Ineffectively
“Did you get my text?”
“No.” Or, “I did, but forgot to reply.” Or, “I did but thought it was spam.” Or, “No, my phone was dead.”
When I was working, I sent out a email newsletter opened by less than half of the recipients. Important weekly updates were lost in sea of spam.
Less frequently
More and more, I call. Online communication has lost it’s appeal.
Waite for it... 