By Stephanie Blanda

Communication in text form has become the norm for today’s society. We send e-mails, text messages and instant messages without thinking about it. The problem isn’t that we are communicating by text. The problem is that we don’t think about what we are saying when we really should.

When communicating by text, the nonverbal piece of communication is missing. We don’t get to see the face of the person we are talking to or hear the inflection of the person’s voice. Because of this, it is important that we, as a society, begin to pay more attention to the messages we are truly sending through an e-mail or instant message.

For the remainder of this article, I will focus on e-mails. I’ve received quite a few e-mails in my years at CSB/SJU that have left me feeling as if the person on the other end was either rude or upset with me.

Luckily, I later found out that neither was the case. It is so important that if we, as a society, use these forms of communication, we learn to use them in a way that is both efficient and polite.

One way to do this is to try to reply within a reasonable amount of time. A reason that e-mail and other text forms of communication are so popular is because they are so fast.

It can be very frustrating to not receive an e-mail back from someone when you have an important question.

I realize that many people do not check their e-mail on a regular basis, but this doesn’t excuse a lack of reply. I have had several pressing questions never answered.

When e-mail is the only source of contact, it is essential that people answer them. Even if it is a very short response, letting the sender know that you have at least viewed the e-mail shows them that you care enough to take a few seconds to acknowledge their thoughts.

This is especially important when sending messages on a professional basis.

I have received quite a few messages from professors and other individuals in positions of authority who have not taken the time to create professional sounding e-mails.

Many have even failed to respond. I think that when a student takes the time to compose an e-mail to ask a question or to even explain an absence it is not only professional butpolite to respond.

It doesn’t have to be long or even detailed. All it needs to be is an, “OK, thanks,” or a, “Yes, it’s due on Thursday,” with a salutation and a signature.

Just a few words can create a stronger relationship between student and professor and keep things both professional and friendly. So the next time you zip a message off to someone, take a few minutes. Say, “Hello, hope you had a good weekend.”

It only takes a few seconds to turn a message from rude to friendly. Try it.

This is the opinion of Stephanie Blanda, a CSB senior

Filed under: Opinion by The Record Staff