What to think about a right to be understood correctly? Employees (HS 15.08.) are worried about their bosses spotting their activities at home through social media.
A weekend of party pics should not provoke discussion on Monday at coffee table, if the employee was party-harding. It is offensive to think that.
Similarly, an employee who reported sick and later found via IG-posts to be gardening at home shouldn't raise a question, whether the employee is in fact sick or not. It is offensive to question one's word despite the material evidence suggesting something else..
Makes me think of two things.
Either, we assume that there are two separates levels of existence. One in digital, and one in the traditional physical world. Discussions shouldn't pass between the two. So, if I tell you face-to-face that I feel sick and I'm going home, whatever I post in the digital world doesn't count - and vice versa.
Or there is some kind of a right for right interpretation. Whatever I say, or do, you have the responsibility to interpret the way I meant it to sound like. So, a party picture with people dancing on tables MUST be interpreted as a way of taking care of my social relationships, while keeping the drinking and resting between the navigational beacons.
The latter option is especially interesting considering how poorly people express themselves in social media. I don't mean to be a grammar police, but when a sentence is dictated in a manner turning the literate interpretation completely upside-down, from the perhaps intended meaning, it feels quite a lot of responsibility is assumed for the reader.
Imagine a working environment, where you, as a manager, are completely reliant on your employees favorable interpretation of the content you produce. As long as you are in favor, a slap on the back is a sign of appreciation. But once you lose it, that slap becomes a spank.
But not to worry. This new resposnibility to interpret (R2I?) is a culmination point in individualism: I can say whatever I want, wherever I want and to whoever I want. It is their responsibility to understand what I really meant. That's why I can ask you not to comment this post in a negative way, because if you do, you clearly misunderstood my point. You'd only make a fool of yourself showing others how ignorant you are.
It's a culmination point of individualism: I can say whatever I want, wherever I want and to whoever I want. It is their responsibility to understand what I really meant. That's why I can ask you not to comment this post in a negative way, because if you do, you clearly misunderstood my point. You'd only make a fool of yourself showing others how ignorant you are.
Of course, as HS story elaborates, this R2I does not extend to managers. Their task is to favorably interpret the employees output without seeing them physically and without any interference with their private lives. Asking about private life in a job interview should be equally avoided.
Then again, if the first assumption is closer to truth, I definitely need to rewire some settings in my half-assed head to a more schizophrenic frequency. For me, a public post in social media pretty much has meant the say as if you were saying it to my face. It would be odd if a person told about a weekend of heavy drinking at the office's coffee table and the listeners didn't have a right to assume that he was out.
In either case, it seems to me that meanings have become fluid in the sense that the spatter of words needs to form in to a ideal interpretation of one's situation, while traveling from mouth to ear. However, the responsibility lays with the listener. Naturally, there might be a shortage on background information how to interpret the received information, which might lead to an unintentional non-optimal interpretation. This can be avoided, though, by simply answering in a Californian style: "That's amazing, bro!" Because that's what I meant anyway. I know, we're all amazing.
So, try to guess what I meant with the below picture and leave an FB comment. And, please, be mindful. The last thing I need on a Monday morning is a wrong interpretation.
Thank you, excuse me and good-bye.
- Half-assed chef
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