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There are actually social frameworks in place to compensate for both of these, but what passes for modern internet culture has largely rejected them. Um. By wh

There are actually social frameworks in place to compensate for both of these, but what passes for modern internet culture has largely rejected them. Um. By which I mean to say: Dear grzm, Thank you for your recent post on HackerNews with regard to the limitations of empathy in a text based medium. I largely agree with your points. However, I would like to draw your attention to an existing practice, specifically intended to compensate for the drawbacks you mention; this is the traditional letter-writing style. A fixed communication structure provides social cues which compensate for the lack of emotional side channels, as well as providing continual reassurance to the reader the communication is, in fact, desired. Of course, this is not a panacea (indeed, it can be abused to great effect: I highly recommend reading some of the correspondence of Mark Twain!), but I am of the opinion that it can be effective in facilitating communication between people of differing opinions. Thanking you for your attention and in anticipation of your reply, I remain, Your sincerely, david.given PS. It's a been long time since I had an excuse to use the word 'facilitating'. Also, I had to look up the closing salutation. I also suspect that one of the main reasons this worked is because it's substantially more work. Tossing off a dismissive note in a couple of minutes is one thing; sitting down with a pen and composing a proper letter means you have to think about what you're saying.

jschwartzi 10y ago
Dear david-given, I really enjoyed reading your follow-up post on HackerNews. Truly it provided a good example of an antiquated mode of communication which is nonetheless an excellent solution to the problem of conveying social cues over the internet. I wanted to mention to you another aspect of this solution. Namely, the impersonal nature of the communication also provides some emotional distance between the writer and the reader. This can be valuable in the event that what is written is controversial in some way, as it communicates a desire to form some neutral ground where the conversation can be had. This helps facilitate an atmosphere of collaboration rather than the usual Internet attitude of spit-roasting of the reader. I hope you find this message of some use or insight. I appreciate the time you've taken to read it. Thank you, jschwartzi
kuschku 10y ago
That's a good point, but sadly, on Twitter, due to the realtime part, you'll get buried in accusations if you don't respond within seconds, so this isn't a realistic option.
grzm 10y ago
Indeed, and I often find myself going out of my way to qualify forum posts in an attempt to prevent misinterpretations. It takes effort, though, and as you note, it's compensation. It can help, but I don't think it can full make up for it. I'm glad others are thinking about this, too.

jschwartzi 10y ago

Dear david-given, I really enjoyed reading your follow-up post on HackerNews. Truly it provided a good example of an antiquated mode of communication which is nonetheless an excellent solution to the problem of conveying social cues over the internet. I wanted to mention to you another aspect of this solution. Namely, the impersonal nature of the communication also provides some emotional distance between the writer and the reader. This can be valuable in the event that what is written is controversial in some way, as it communicates a desire to form some neutral ground where the conversation can be had. This helps facilitate an atmosphere of collaboration rather than the usual Internet attitude of spit-roasting of the reader. I hope you find this message of some use or insight. I appreciate the time you've taken to read it. Thank you, jschwartzi

kuschku 10y ago

That's a good point, but sadly, on Twitter, due to the realtime part, you'll get buried in accusations if you don't respond within seconds, so this isn't a realistic option.

grzm 10y ago

Indeed, and I often find myself going out of my way to qualify forum posts in an attempt to prevent misinterpretations. It takes effort, though, and as you note, it's compensation. It can help, but I don't think it can full make up for it. I'm glad others are thinking about this, too.