Due to our surroundings, cultures, personalities, and everything that makes us who we are, all humans have their own interpretations. According to Interpreting Instant Messaging: Content and Meaning in Computer-Meditated Communication, instant messaging is an example of the concept above. Instant messaging is a form of nonverbal communication designed for "real-time" communication. It was established in order for an easy way to access conversation without having to be face-to-face. However, there are many ways to interpret text and instant messaging is a prime example of how misunderstanding may take place.
The article defines the options that instant messaging has to offer. Such as, creating a profile based on your interests, a buddy list, and an away message to inform your friends where you are. In my opinion, these options can give someone many facts about you theoretically, but not personally. For example, the article mentioned online dating and how instant messaging was used on many websites for members to communicate. A profile may indicate that someone enjoys fishing, hunting, and gardening. But how does that describe you as a person? These are all things that are easy to claim about yourself, but how is the person on the other line suppose to trust the information without knowing you personally? Communication that is based online takes away the personal level of a relationship. A weakness of online sources and information is that it can not explain someones behaviors or true values.
Depending on what kind of information is being communicated, face-to-face communication or two way not face-to-face, may have different advantages. The text material of this course explains the advantages of face-to-face communication. The advantages stated are instant feedback, nonverbal body language signals, and a personal connection (Lehman Carol, and Defrene D, 2011). Not only is it easy to misunderstand a simple conversation while instant messaging, but imagine an in-depth topic or conversation. Putting ideas or thoughts into text formation can be extremely difficult.
In conclusion, I would recommend this article to anyone who is interested in learning more about the way instant messaging, as a whole, is used in the communication world. According to the article, "the meaning of a message differs between corespondents" (Jacobson, 2007). Instant messaging leaves a lot of room for interpretation errors. As previously stated, text is one of the most difficult things to interpret. There is no feeling behind what is being said and without knowing the emotions of the text the receivers has no choice but to determine the emotions for themselves. With that being said, instant messaging has a huge weakness. A strength however, is how quickly communication can take place. This article has helped break down the advantages and disadvantages of instant messaging which I feel also stands for email and text messaging.
Work Cited:
Lehman Carol, M, & Defrene D, D (2011). 16 ed. Cengage Learning.
Jacobson David. (2007). Interpreting Instant Messaging: Context and Meaning in Computer-Mediated Communication. Journal of Anthropological Research, 29-63.
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