[Vision2020] How Flame Wars Start (Wired News)

[Ron Force]

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70179-0.html

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars

 By Stephen Leahy
 Feb, 13, 2006

"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today. Was she sincere
or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.

According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any
e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly
interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.

"That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley of the
University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New
York University. "People in our study were convinced they've accurately
understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no
better than chance," says Epley.

The researchers took 30 pairs of undergraduate students and gave each one a
list of 20 statements about topics like campus food or the weather. Assuming
either a serious or sarcastic tone, one member of each pair e-mailed the
statements to his or her partner. The partners then guessed the intended
tone and indicated how confident they were in their answers.

Those who sent the messages predicted that nearly 80 percent of the time
their partners would correctly interpret the tone. In fact the recipients
got it right just over 50 percent of the time.

"People often think the tone or emotion in their messages is obvious because
they 'hear' the tone they intend in their head as they write," Epley
explains.

At the same time, those reading messages unconsciously interpret them based
on their current mood, stereotypes and expectations. Despite this, the
research subjects thought they accurately interpreted the messages nine out
of 10 times.

The reason for this is egocentrism, or the difficulty some people have
detaching themselves from their own perspective, says Epley. In other words,
people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from
another person's perspective.

"E-mail is very easy to misinterpret, which not only triggers flame wars but
lots of litigation," says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the e-Policy
Institute and author of guidebooks E-Mail Rules and Instant Messaging Rules.
Many companies battle workplace lawsuits triggered by employee e-mail,
according to Flynn.

"People write absolutely, incredibly stupid things in company e-mails," said
Flynn.

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