Do you often find people reading their own assumptions into your posts? Sometimes I will avoid social media, even here, because I always get replies that contain erroneous assumptions. I wonder if it's a general problem or if I am not being clear. Or perhaps my life and personality is just that atypical and what would be true for most is not for me.
4
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10 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.of course dah that is what we do with everything
whiskywoman
Level 8
Jan 14, 2022
0
You have to be very careful about what you type. Making sure that every sentence and paragraph is plain and clear with no possibilities for misunderstandings, even if that means writing in a very long winded style, of the sort you would use when writing to dyslexic ten year olds. ( There are quite a few dyslexic ten year olds on this site, not just me. ) You will still get misunderstood, but that reduces the numbers.
Fernapple
Level 9
Jan 7, 2022
4
I assume you are correct in your assumptions.
Sticks48
Level 9
Jan 7, 2022
5
Would it be too much of me to assume that I have understood your comment correctly? 
You touch upon a complex area of human communication.
As @diaco suggests, face-to-face communication is much richer than just words written on an (electronic) page, and so that form of communication can disambiguate a lot of possible ambiguity.
As @p-nullifidian suggests, it takes time and effort to read other people's words closely and to ponder the writer's real intentions. Again as he suggests many people don't bother to do that.
For myself, I am aware that any given word or phrase can mean different things in different parts of the English-speaking world.
As @lerlo suggests, people can change the meaning of words in their own minds to suit themselves.
Looking at your own bio, I would suggest that it might be a mistake to think that even 10% of the population has your own analytical habit of mind.
I hope this helps.
(edited for typo)
anglophone
Level 9
Jan 7, 2022
3
Sometimes what you write reminds the reader of something they have seen or experienced in their own life that perhaps you have not.
Being quick to toss out any reply that seems like an "assumption" to you is to actually negate your post....why ask a question if you are so sure you already know all the answers?
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Jan 7, 2022
6
Most of us, maybe all of us, seem hardwired to immediately react to what we read. It is only upon a rereading, and a reflection on the original comment (and more importantly our response), that we can better gauge our emotional—intellectual balance when posting to the site.
p-nullifidian
Level 8
Jan 6, 2022
5
And a lot of people won't bother with all of that.
I think that’s just the way people are.
Always.
skado
Level 9
Jan 6, 2022
3
puff:
Would add social media encourages that behaviour with it's 2 dimensional communication. Body language does improve communication which is none existent on sites like this.
@puff Sorry, I am not being critical, but you really do have to be careful about what you type, that's one reason for the failings. If for example you read your second sentence again, I think that you will find that it says, that there is no communication on this site, and not, what I think is what you intended, no, "body language". As I say I am not being critical, we all do it, I have done it hundreds of times, but it just goes to show how easily misunderstandings happen.
You have to try to make sure every sentence and paragraph is plain and clear with no possibilities for misunderstandings, even if that means writing in a very long winded style, of the sort you would use when writing to dyslexic ten year olds. ( There are quite a few dyslexic ten year olds on this site, not just me. ) You will still get misunderstood, but that reduces the numbers.
puff:
@Fernapple What you say is true and I usually adhere to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). What I did mean was online communication is 2 dimensional as in a dimension is missing, being picking up on subtleties like body language, facial expressions, voice tone as mentioned above.
I will will take your criticism on board and try to write clearer. Cheers
Enjoy being online again!
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