In conclusion, the quality of of our communication with one another is depreciating as we become increasingly dependent on technological media. The fullness, the depth, the completeness of what we intend to say is disappearing as a result of the absence of tone, gestures, eye contact, posture, expressions, body language or the myriad of other tools that accompany successful communication.
Everywhere from school to work to home; people are sending and receiving mixed signals. Condolences come across as harsh, humor as insensitive, sarcasm misconstrued as hate, and love interpreted as non-authentic.

To further add to the confusion, we’ve adopted a constantly changing form of short hand as we try to condense complex thoughts into 140 characters. On the surface modern communication appears to be more efficient than it’s predecessor. That is, until you adjust for the amount time spend trying to clarify a misinterpreted message, trying to explain your true intent, or trying to repair a relationship that fell apart because you got your signals crossed. You see, where we are at today is more than a simple case of women being from Venus and men from Mars. What we have now is the trade-off of progress; and to be perfectly honest with you, I wish I could trade a lot of it back for the simple clarity of yesterday.

For now, I’ll have to settle for a renewed effort to change my communication style. Specifically, to ween myself from a dependence on technology and make an effort to have all pertinent discussions in person. At a minimum I need to pick up the phone and restrain from sending out that confusing text, posting on your Facebook wall when I need your ear, TYPING IN ALL CAPS TO CONVEY MY FRUSTRATION, or the tweet that everyone else will think is for them that you either miss or won’t understand. Yes, I’m saying I want to get back to the basics. I believe our future depends on it. Will you join me?