There is a very good article in the Denver Post today talking about social media making us tone deaf. The article by Sheba R. Wheeler, talks about how we use these mediums to talk about everything that is happening in our lives with little change in tone from the important to the unimportant. Ms. Wheeler talks about the importance of using each medium correctly so the message is understood correctly. She uses an example of a a woman who read a Facebook post from here sister saying “At the doctor’s office. Hope everything is OK.”That comment made her sister think there was something seriously wrong, when it turned out she was only there for a physical.

Emails, twitter posts, Facebook posts, and the like can be easily misunderstood when they are not well thought out and written. How often have each of us gotten an email that upset us, when it turned out the sender had no such desire to upset us at all? The shorter, the more impersonal the communication, the more room there is misunderstandings and complications. That may be OK when you are chatting with a friend….but can be business suicide when communication with customers or potential customers. The best advise from this article is to take a few moments and pause before you send out emails and social networking posts. Think how others might interpret your comments and try to be more thoughtful with them.

This article reminded me of the importance of writing differently for each medium, whether online or off. Many of my clients in the past have made the mistake of writing for print as they would write for radio. We read at a different pace than we listen. We watch TV differently that we listen to the radio. We read emails differently that a Facebook post. Each medium has its own nuance, timing and flavor. Utilize those differences for your business to stand out from your competitors.
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