Here are the points of a New York Times article on emails and communication.
- Face to face communication is information rich – we interpret from tone and facial expressions as well as content – rapport has a chance to develop
- Email: quick and convenient with ability to stay in touch with lots of people
- Positive email messages tend to be misinterpreted as neutral. Neutral emails tend to be interpreted as negative
- No emotional overtones from the sender are received by the recipient
- No meta messages in emails that appear in face to face interactions
- There is less chance that misinterpretation will happen in emails between people who know each other well.
- Communication through email with a large group of people who are known only through email is essentially like having functional Asperger’s Syndrome.
- As email increases in an organization, the overall volume of other communication drops.
- Creates disconnect between people.
- Email is not better than face to face contact; it is only better than nothing!