Why is texting different from face to face communication?
The link below states that only 7% of the communication is its linguistic content. The other parts are verbal and visual. You can get a lot of meaning from a person’s tone and body language. When you text someone, you are only getting the content. I don’t agree with the exact percentages, but the theory is sound. A lot of meaning is lost when you converse with someone by letter or text message or email. Some of the meaning is gained when talking on the phone, since you can hear their tone and pauses. The most complete communication happens in person, where you can look into the person’s eyes, and observe their body language and physical gestures as they speak. That is how we have learned our primary language, and how we best understand it. As for your text message being funnier being read than being heard, that is simple. When meaning is missing, our minds fill in the meaning with what we think you meant. Or the person thought you were trying to be funny and responded with LOL so as no
