A beauty lies within face-to-face communication. Each person not only speaks words, but has tone in their voice, expression on their face, motion of their body, emphasis of syllables or words, and much more. All of these factors are lost in a text message, email or a comment on an online forum. Many words, sentences and phrases can have an entirely different meaning just based upon how they are spoken. Nowadays, instant messages can be misread due to the mood of the reader, and the intent of the sender is lost, thus, creating conflict in understanding one another.

I have witnessed arguments ensue due to lack of proper interpretation of words in a text message. This may seem to be a silly idea, but I believe that it is actually an issue. This phenomenon usually occurs when the sender has a sarcastic intention in their words, but the reader has no physical or voice cues to suggest such an idea.

Take this situation as an example:

Frank: Man, it is really cold at my house

Mike: Maybe it's just because you have a cold heart.

Now, the character of Mike is making a joke. He is using sarcastic humor, but Frank is unaware of that, and may be upset by this. Similar situations arise in the real world, thus arguments begin. This is a basic way that technology causes aggression that would otherwise be nonexistent in a personal interaction. Indeed, humans have been writing letters for thousands of years, and those lack personal interaction. However, a letter allows more time to think, and the sender has to take time before sending. Some letters are urgent and require immediate reply, but letters of such nature are typically serious and would under no circumstance warrant a witty or sarcastic reply. The instantaneous replies of text messages are by demand, not necessity.

Another situation that can arise is a scene of people sending unkind, cruel, malicious, and even hateful words because there is no personal contact to hinder them. Most people in this age are aware of this concept in the context of cyberbullies and internet trolls.

However, cyberbullies and Internet trolls type their words with the intent of inciting a dispute and expect a response, and are completely intentional in their actions. There are plenty of people that send these negative messages simply because their prefrontal cortex is lost with the absence of a physical human being in front of them. They are projecting their thoughts and do not hesitate, because to them, the reality of speaking to an actual human being is partially, or even completely, lost behind their monitor or phone screen.

I support free speech, and will continue to do so all the way to the grave. That being said, the reality remains that there are just some subjects that are better left unspoken. Of course, any person has the natural right to express their opinion. All people just must be wary that what you say in a text message is going to a human being. What you send or post online is read by humans. Before posting your opinion on anything, especially a controversial topic, please think for a few minutes about if you would still say those words if you were on a stage in front of a crowd. The computer screen is not a barrier of invincibility, nor is your phone keyboard any different from your physical mouth.

The words you type may not be written as words from your mouth, but they will always be read as such. This very simple disconnection causes so much misunderstanding and undue conflict. Thankfully, you have emojis to add on to your text messages to express mood, tone, or emotion. You keep using that face-with-tears-of-joy emoji in your texts to show your friends you are being silly. It could actually save you from a fight.