[lbo-talk] How Flame Wars Begin

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

> On Mon, 13 Feb 2006, Chuck wrote:
> 
> > It should be obvious that e-mail is a deficient mode of communication because 
> > it can't convey all of the information that one experiences in a face-to-face 
> > encounter. Many people who know me first online are frequently surprised to 
> > find that I am a mellow, soft-spoken guy in person. E-mail turns some of us 
> > shy people into pit bulls online for a variety of reasons.
> 
> I've heard this argument many times, but I don't get what's so
> particularly deficient about email messages, compared to other
> written communication.  People have been communicating quite
> effectively using writing for thousands of years, without
> the benefit of face-to-face encounters.  It's neither easier
> nor more difficult to communicate via email than it is via
> a letter, a newspaper editorial, a love poem, or a biology
> textbook.
> 
> Why the valorization of "face to face" communication?  In
> my experience, deception and misdirection is far easier in
> face to face interactions, because people can manipulate
> expressions and vocal delivery to feign "sincerity".
> 
> Miles

I seem to recall a study purporting to show that people were more honest in email than they were in face-to-
face communications. Something about the idea of writing conveying a sense of permanence that was 
lacking in speech made people less likely to exaggerate. They could always deny what they said but not so 
easily deny what they wrote.

John Thornton