Ever receive an email or Facebook message from a friend or contact, and because of the way it was written you kind of thought the person was upset with or made at you? You wonder what you did and you kind of stress about it for a bit, and maybe you even ask them about it and they have no idea what you’re talking about. Then they say, “Oh yeah, I was just in a rush.” You didn’t do anything wrong! You just didn’t take heed of this tip:
Don’t let your thoughts run wild — With electronic communication, whether email or social networking, there is no way to read facial expressions or body language. (Some people just refuse to use emoticons.) If there is a question about a person’s intentions, give them the benefit of the doubt rather than calling them out for being rude or worrying you did something wrong. Maybe they were in a rush, had a bad day, aren’t very fluent on a keyboard — could be anything, and it usually is and not an issue with you.
