I love conversations.
Contrary to popular belief, I have my moments where the I in my ISFJ-ness is imminent. But, this post isn’t about Meyers-Briggs test results. It’s about holding better conversations.
I kinda sorta really believe that social media is a horrible excuse for etiquette…just saying.
Two signs of passivity:
1. Inserting “just saying” at the end of a sentence. Sometimes, we say things, but we don’t have the courage to be confident in what we say so somehow we think the phrase makes everything better.
2. Ellipses. I’m surprised at how many people don’t know this term so I suppose I should explain. And ellipses is three periods in a row. In a text have you ever had a lapse in the conversation where someone responds to something you’ve written says, well texts,something like this: “OK…..” or “Oh….” or “yeah…” and then the conversation just sort of ends there? And you feel kinda bad about yourself? Maybe it’s just me, but I kinda start to freak and out and typically assume I’ve said something to hurt his or her feelings? Either that or I feel frustrated because they are hinting that they have something to say but aren’t saying it.
3. “Don’t hate me cuz I’m beautiful.” Still trying to figure this one out.
Not clarifying comes in the form of:
1. Awkward silences.
2. Not addressing the awkwardness.
3. Not signaling the end of a conversation, once again it’s easy to not do over social media, but it’s still courteous. Especially over Facebook and texting.
4. Not following up. I see this a lot in friendships and deeper relationships. This is different from not signaling the end. “How?” You ask? You completely end the conversation without discussing when you’re going to talk again. Or you end by saying something such as “we should hang out soon.” This in and of itself is not bad, but it’s important to act upon these words.
Talk to me! What are your thoughts on conversing? What are some issues you see that I didn’t touch on How do you think we could improve our conversations?
-Kayla
Coffee Shop Talk 
What’s interesting to me is that I think over social media, the nature of conversations is very different. On social media, it’s very possible that the person you are talking to is also conversing with 2 or 3 other people! I remember back in the day of MSN, I would try and hold conversations with 7 people at a time! That doesn’t happen in the real world! Food for thought, but I always think about this too (especially when people say ‘we should definitely catch up soon’. WHAT IS SOON?)
I couldn’t agree more! I was indirectly trying to say that sometimes, how we interact over social media, has a negative influence on our face-to-face conversations! They are no doubt very different types of interaction.