I have a saying – “All email servers reside in hell.”. I don’t normally write such saucy language, but in this case, it is warranted. Normal, face-to-face, verbal communication is loaded with auditory and visual cues to help us interpret the actual message of the communicator. When we use these extra clues, it helps prevent us from speaking in a way that is unusually harsh.

Email obviously cripples both the writer and the reader. The first hurdle to overcome is the lack of these other auditory and visual communication clues.

The more dangerous pitfall, and the reason for the “email servers reside in hell” comment is the common human tendency, when we are emailing something we have strong feelings about, to be more negatively sharp in our communication. Some of this is intentional. If you’re honest with yourself, you will admit that you’ve written an email and some element of your sinfulness (pride, selfishness, unrighteous anger, etc.) has led you to keep a sharp tone in an email that you would not have otherwise communicated.

Some of our sharpness is not intentional, though, but goes to our crippled human tendency to be more negatively sharp in our communication when we are not face to face with the audience of our communication. If we are just a little too sharp unintentionally in a face to face conversation, it will typically strike our own ears. Additionally, we’ve got the immediate facial and verbal messaging coming back at us from our audience if we get a little too sharp. By then, we catch it and adjust our own body and verbal messaging to a more hospitable tone.

Readers are also crippled. I have an acquaintance with whom I need to have relatively frequent email communication. His email communication is very direct and short. It took me a while to learn that his short and direct communication was just that.

Saucy title not withstanding, when you sit down to write your next email of consequence, remember that the email servers reside in hell.