I heard somewhere that only 20% of all communication is done with words and language. The rest is done with tone, infliction, facial expressions, body language, and a host of other subtle and not-so subtle cues. Unless you want to interdisperse
every
sentance
with
dozens
of
emoticons
for
every
single
subtle
nuance
that a person may wish to impart, then all you will get in a text-based forum is that pared-down, bare minimum for only the most general comprehension, twenty percent. Don't get me wrong, online forums do have their place. They are great for sharing information, and getting the word out about various ideas. However, they are lousy as far as communication tools go.
I have seen far too many 'virtual' communities self-destruct due to the fact that they were 'virtual' rather than real. These were good men whom I used to respect, yet they can barely even talk to one another in a civilized tone because of some little cyber-scuffle which would have probably been avoided had they been meeting in person. For instance, I have been in this forum for months. I have been reading and posting fairly regularly, yet I can honestly say that I don't really know anybody else here, not even our virtual host, Steve. I'm not sure if I ever will either, unless I happen to meet some of 'yall somewhere in the real world. I hope you are able to get the gist of what I am trying to say here, and if we ever do meet, I hope to be able to offer you a drink, either of Guiness, or a nice hot cup of Herbal Chai
.