[staff] Is he just playin'?
This conversation on the DigiTeen forum led me to think of recent interactions I’ve had in TSL. Everyone knows there are benefits and drawbacks to text (non-voice) communication. Typing gives us the time to consider our thoughts. It makes it sometimes easier to have a difficult conversation. It allows a conversation to flow more smoothly - giving the types who find it difficult to ‘cut in’ on a vocal conversation an opportunity to have their voice heard. On the other hand, emotion and nuance is more easily lost in text. Lately, I’ve often found myself wondering “is he kidding around?”, as the subtlety of tone of voice and expression are missing.
Most of the times I’ve heard this debate has been around newer members to the online community. In particular, we have some new members in our DIDI ‘Cool Kids’ workshops. These guys are at a stage where they are expected to work offline together on their venture plans, and report back to us the next week when we meet online. As remote facilitators we’ve had some difficulty interpreting some of their conversations. Are the jabs these guys are poking at each other serious? Are they ‘just playin’’ or are they really expressing a problem or concern about their teamwork? So far, we haven’t addressed our difficulty in understanding these jabs any further than saying “hey guys - we can’t tell if you’re joking!” I am assuming that learning to be appropriate online comes with time and experience, and perhaps having some people call you on it a few times, will remind you that it’s just not as obvious to those reading your text as it might have sounded in your head :)
Of course, I have considered that it’s just my issue as an old uptight ‘adult’ who takes things too seriously....
