hi everyone -
just wanted to share some thoughts about the use of exclamation marks
in emails and online writings that represent our thoughts and work.
i'm as guilty as anyone of using too many exclamation marks in my
email and online writings. i'm trying to pare back, though.
to help think about this topic here are two hypothetical DDN profiles.
Profile 1
I just found out about the DDN community! I love everything about it!
Send me some email!
Profile 2
When people share ideas, communities grow. When communities share ideas,
they learn from each other. I came to the Digital Divide Network to learn
from others -- and hope I can make contributions that will enlarge the
common knowledge assembled here.
now, just as an excercise, add exclamation marks to all sentences
in the second profile.
Revised Profile 2
When people share ideas, communities grow! When communities share ideas,
they learn from each other! I came to the Digital Divide Network to learn
from others -- and hope I can make contributions that will enlarge the
common knowledge assembled here!
can you see how exclamation marks and thoughtfulness don't fit
so well together?
sometimes slight changes in how we communicate can change
how our thoughts are perceived by others. it's fascinating
that something as small as punctuation can make us appear
more or less thoughtful.
when i completed my undergraduate degree in philosophy,
i was pretty sure at that time that the degree would
have little practical use to me. i'm not so sure now.
i hope the above thoughts provide some use to the DDN
community as we continue our shared journey of
exploration.
- phil
--
Phil Shapiro [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/ (personal)
http://teachme.blogspot.com (weblog)
http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/pshapiro (technology access work)
http://mytvstation.blogspot.com/ (video and rich media)
"There's just so much more creativity and genius out there than
our media currently reflect." FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
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