Have you ever gotten a text message from someone and have no idea what they mean? Or have you ever had to show your phone to a friend to help you understand what the text means?

Keeping in touch with people is becoming easier through the use of technology, but I believe it is getting harder for people to understand what others are trying to communicate.  Research says that communication is 90% non-verbal and 10% verbal; therefore when we text we are missing much of the message being conveyed.  I would argue it may be getting easier to communicate with others, but it is getting harder to understand what they are trying to say.   I think text messaging is good for sending quick messages that are easier to understand, but even then they can be misunderstood (i.e.  check out the video below for a great example).

As a woman, I know we analyze EVERYTHING.  There have been many times when I have gotten together with my girlfriends and we talk about messages our partners or potential partners have sent us.  Shhh... men you shouldn't know this :)  For example, you send them a long message and they respond with a few words.  What does that mean?

I thought this video by the Harvard Sailing Team , which my sister's best friend showed me last year,  is a great example to demonstrate the issue.   In the video, the roles are reversed as the men are acting as "women" and the women are acting as "men".

It made me realize to give men the benefit of the doubt and that I have to tone down my analytical tendencies  :)

Do you over analyze your text messages?  Do you think women analyze more than men?

Thank you for reading and your presence at this beach retreat. You Rock! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comment section below.

See you at the beach!