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Friday, October 16, 2009

Email Fail!

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I am sitting in a semi-darkened room and wondering what to post for tonight's entry as I crack my head to search for an inspiration. If I had wanted, there certainly will be many items which I can put down here and many would be shocking enough to grab your attention and cause some stir. But I am not into delivering such novelties and making this into a scandal sheet that titillate the senses.

If you want scandals and other gossips you can go watch all those shows that support such items such as those hosted by Jay Leno, David Letterman and the lot.

Still, there will be other occasions where such items can be trumpeted with gusto through a medium of delivery that we all take for granted: email While the email can be a useful and indispensible tool to relay and pass information across the globe in an instance and thereby reducing waiting time and breaching great distance in an instance, when used recklessly without thinking and in the heat of an emotion, it can cause much distress and unwanted attention from other people who do not necessary need to be privy to the information.

This comes about when one uses the cc function without some mature and careful thought as to the necessity of it all, namely, do I really need to cc the whole world or all Tom, Dick and Harry email I can get' so that I can make my point heard? While there is certainly a need to get the relevant people to hear the message, due attention must be given that the information be spared from being use indiscriminately that turns the entire topic into a circus or fodder for lynching.

Perhaps one main reason why the email is used this way in such  an indiscriminate manner is because of the anonimity it offers as there is no direct face-to-face encounter between the one making the email and the one who is the subject of the topic or gripe. It is easier to shoot off an email to the entire world than to have a one-on-one talk to settle the issue. That is the sad state of affairs we have come down to in this time and age.

We may have grown and developed much in terms of science and technology but when it comes to the level of maturity in using the technology, I think we may still be in the Dark Ages.
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5 comments:

ylo said...

You've just said something that I have been thinking about recently. I realised why I prefer to write than to speak is because I can articulate my thoughts better when I write. It comes out as something thoughtful, planned and deliberate, especially the choice of words, rather than something I just rattle off without proper thought. So if I had said it out, it would probably sound worst than if I had written it down. While I believe we should have one-on-one talk to settle the issues especially when it comes to work, sometimes, you find that talking once is not enough. You appear to have made your point/requirement very clearly but it was not complied with for whatever reasons. For such, I would prefer to write so that my words can be read and re-read all over again (until such time it gets deleted). I find it quite a chore to have to verbally repeat myself over and over again, and the listener (as opposed to reader) may not be too keen either. So hopefully, the written words get complied with since the instructions are now so crystal clear.

ylo said...

And speaking of email being used in an indiscriminate manner, well, mine just got forwarded to the whole wide world. And you know what's the best thing? The email was making some very vague reference to some wrongs which the receipient of the email had done and the urgency for them to be rectified. But because it was kept so deliberately vague by me, no one else would have understood the content, except the receipient. And to the rest of the world, I simply appeared harsh and wrong.

Mea culpa? I think not. :D

tessa said...

yes, if misused,it panders to the "exhibitionist streak" inherent in us & yet provides a perfect cover to duck into anonimity when things become too hot. Viewed objectively - it seems to be a pathetic attempt to "exact the pound of flesh" from the 'one who has wronged us', but I've seen it used on an innocent friend - it is a cruel & deadly weapon to crucify another with impunity - leaving the victim no recourse to any court of law/authority. In the old days, we hv the "poison pen" - welcome to the modern deadlier version.

Natasha Yong said...

How often I have to start my emails with "Following up on our conversion" or "As spoken"... and then have the entire conversation in a written format... sigh...

Mocha said...

Hello Fr,

I was at IHM for evening mass today. Saw you outside the parish office after mass but you were chatting with a group of folks so I didn't want to interrupt. Hope to catch you again some day! :0)

 

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