E-mail

While I love e-mail, because it allows me to keep in touch with many people without talking on the phone--I am not a fan of talking on the phone generally--it has one major drawback. The signs of non-verbal communication, and the conveyance of tone that are part of speaking face-to-face are missing. It is easy to mis-read the subtext of someone's words in an email message. Sarcasm, sadness, anger, joking: they can be lost, or felt when never intended to be so.