Dumbed-down Communication
Gone from rogue to rude
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With the advent of the internet, petitions to eliminate cursive writing from school curricula, ebonics, texting, and coded language, non-verbal communication, and non-existent introductions, what has happened to a simple greeting, introducing yourself, then asking for the person to whom you desire to communicate?
With spammers, scammers, unauthorized “sliding into DMs,” pranksters, freaks, fruits, nuts, and online trolls, fraudsters, catfish, sex traffickers, and pedophiles, it is not only justified, but a requirement when communicating to greet a person with a simple “hi/hello,” then, introduce yourself with your name, give the reason you are reaching out, if not too personal or confidential, and ask for the person to whom you wish to speak.
The recipient of your call or text could be clueless about who you are or what you want.
It’s a simple Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Just answer the applicable questions, if not all of them, regardless of what mode of communication you choose.
Although it seems as if verbal communication is meeting its demise, and becoming obsolete throughout the human race, with all of the electronic devices that silence, and consume us, it doesn’t exempt us from being courteous and respectful.
Verbal communication, or the lack thereof, has taken manners with it. It has robbed us of making eye contact and meeting each other with smiles, let alone genuine ones.
I mention this because yesterday, for the second time in as many months, I received a text message that read: “Is this Arnita?” I just blocked the number. That’s nonsense.
I also recall instances in the past, when we had landlines, and callers would ask “Who is this?” I would reply: “Well, who are you, and who do you want to speak to?” The caller would not answer my question and would hang up.
Callers should use a bit of finesse, diplomacy, common sense, and politeness, and be mindful of the golden rule. Those who text are not exempt either.
I get that e-communication is the way the world communicates at this time. But it’s not that difficult to just greet the recipient of your outreach, tell them your name, ask for the person to whom you want to speak, and/or tell them the reason you’ve contacted them.
Our communication has gone from bad to worse. It’s been dumbed-down, and gone from rogue to rude — it doesn’t have to be this way.
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