The next time you think about sneaking a subtle bon mot into an e-mail message, do yourself a favor and think twice. According to professors at New York University and the University of Chicago, e-mail writers tend to overrate their ability to convey sarcasm — and e-mail recipients often underestimate the chances that they’ll get the wrong impression from a message.
The study about sarcasm is one of several bits of research highlighted in a Christian Science Monitor article about professors who research the communicative power of e-mail. Many of the researchers’ findings seem like matters of common sense: It should be no surprise that the medium encourages people to write without thinking, or that e-mail readers have a tougher time interpreting intent in the absence of visual cues or vocal tics.
But the professors who completed the sarcasm study say those specific problems with e-mail are part of a larger issue. People usually assume, incorrectly, that others process information the same way they do, and e-mail ofters fewer cues to correct that discrepancy than do most other forms of communication. (The Christian Science Monitor)
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