Nonverbal Communication & Misinterpretations

Non-verbal communication is the process by which we communicate by sending and receiving wordless, visual messages.  In lecture we have discussed multiple ways of communicating non-verbally. For example we spoke of how simply looking at someone’s Facebook page can give us numerous assumptions, conclusions, judgements, and opinions about someone we hardly know, without that person uttering a word. Speaking from experience, as a high school student, to me it didn’t matter what appeared on my Facebook page. The tables quickly turned when I learned as a college student that what appeared on my social network could make or break my career before it even began.

While we know that looking at someone’s social network such as Facebook could leave an accurate or false perception of who someone is or how they act, after meeting them the final judgement comes from our experience and perception. However, what if we were in the shoes of a potential employer and the ‘bad taste’ left in our mouths was enough to not pursue an interview with a potential employee because of it?

In the article, “Beyond Intractability; Misunderstandings” by Heidi Burgess of “The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project” (2003) conducted at the University of Colorado Boulder, Burgess discusses how a number of different things can influence a message and prevent it from being perceived accurately.

Most people like to joke with friends and family including the infamous explanation “its an inside joke” or “its an inside joke, you wouldn’t understand” but when putting those jokes out on social networks, and no one is there to regulate/clarify if you were joking, what tone was used, what context you meant it in, what you really meant, regardless if others understand them or not, you’re being judged for the non-verbal communications the receiver perceives them to be.

Factors the perceiver may encounter are how the message is sent, affirming something we already know, raising question from contradiction, can the person be taken seriously due to how they are being perceived in their photos, would this person be an accurate depiction of how we want our employees to represent our company, and so forth?   

While our generation has been growing up on technology, I can say with confidence that if not all, most of us have witnessed or have been the victim of what I like to refer to as a cyber fight. Now not only can these potential employers see what we do, who we are friends with, how we want others to see us, and what we like but now they also get a glimpse into our not so personal lives. This is why I will never argue over a social network. When you put your personal problems out there for the world to see, they aren’t exactly personal anymore.

In short, misinterpretations let along misinterpretations on social networks where tone and context are ambiguous reaffirms my belief of how non-verbal communication can be dangerous for our futures.

http://cas283-sp15-002.blogspot.com/2015/01/nonverbal-communication.html