80% of human verbal communication is through body language, either by tone of voice or facial expressions or whatever. The words we use can take on many meanings depending on how we say them.

When communicating in this media, I sometimes forget that and that can get me in trouble. I’m learning to keep it simple and to the point and make no assumptions about how the text is perceived by the reader. What I may think is a funny little jab at some one, turns in to a personal assault on their intelligence and their ancestry. The next thing I know somebody’s telling me to go find a tall building and do the world a favor and jump.

I have a new respect for Politicians and Celebrities wherein every little thing they say is dissected and analyzed and reviewed and criticized. “In the news tonight, a local man was dragged from his computer and beaten by an angry mob over a joke he posted on a web log that apparently, no one got. Police reports show that the man, in his mid forties, has a sense of humor more suited to a fishing boat than a public forum. Several women’s groups and animal rights activists were involved in the attack”.