I recently came across an interesting tweet where the 'tweeter' had used language that was familiar to them, possibly not realising that the same language could have a different meaning to others in different industries. Without going into the specifics it was obvious that this caused some language competitiveness and resulted in a barrier to developing relationships on-line. I honestly don't think they were aware of the effect!
Its an old example but still works. Repeat the following sentence seven time aloud and emphasise the highlighted word:
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
I never said I would do it.
Seven words, one sentence, seven different meanings!
This is interesting to consider when we think about our language usage in online Social Media and what happens when we create a story about what someone else is thinking. When we use tools such as Twitter we should realise that our communities are a collection of people with human feeling, needs and aspiration and not a set of football cards (the one with the most wins) and we need to consider the makeup of our audience. The important question being, have you taken the time to get to know them and are you trying to build a relationship.
Ultimately we are never going to know 100% what is going on in someone else's mind. We can't possibly because we don't know what experiences they've had, values they hold, or beliefs they have that may shape and influence the way they communicate. A particular type of person with a less developed level of Emotional Intelligence would make up stories that will help keep them in their comfort zone. They do so by blaming other people resulting in them thinking that they know 100% as to what is going on in the other person's mind. We have to develop the skills of Emotional Intelligence in order to take others into account. It must be acknowledged that sometimes people already perceive themselves as demonstrating these skills frequently. However, it may be that others do not have the same perception and this is where other people will make erroneous assumptions about what they think you are thinking or feeling. So again, you may rate yourself high in certain skills but, in actual fact, you may not be demonstrating these skills transparently to others.
So what we're talking about here really is about blame versus responsibility. It's about you being responsible for the way you connect with your on-line community. Next time you Tweet think about how that message may be perceived by others - are you really getting across what you mean? Spend a moment sitting with your audience before sending!
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