ESCANABA - In a society where even e-mail has been deemed "too slow" by a multitude of cell phone clutching generations, the informal nature of the digital world appears to be seeping into that of the living and breathing.
The abbreviated and casual behaviors that have become commonplace to many have even found their way into the professional world. According to Robert Micheau, community and public relations director of MichiganWorks! The Job Force Board, informal slip-ups have become common among job-seekers.
Among the most frequent occurrences of informalities are unprofessional e-mails and voicemails.
"We heard a story of a job-seeker whose voicemail was something along the lines of 'I am out partying, I will return your call when I sober up'," said Micheau. "They received a message from a potential employer stating they were calling to offer a position, but after hearing the message, they were no longer offering the position."
Phones equipped with ringtones that play music to the caller are also considered unprofessional, noted Micheau.
As far as e-mail addresses are concerned, Micheau recommends creating a second address for the sole purpose of work and job-related emails.
Other tips to effectively separate the casual and formal worlds: staying aware of social networking sites - some employers search these pages for potential candidates; editing emails for common errors like capitalization and grammar that are normally auto-corrected by texting software; and avoiding texting short-hand, such as shortening "you" to "u."
Despite the apparent merger of digital and non-digital tendencies - particularly via the adoption of texting lingo - Todd McCann, member of the English Department at Bay College, says the trend may be less of an issue than people think.
"I rarely see 'text-speak' in students' writing, so it's a non-issue for me. In general, my students understand what's appropriate for different audiences and adapt easily," he said. "The important thing, to me, is that we are aware of our audiences when we write. We all belong to many discourse communities (groups of close friends, acquaintances, coworkers, classmates, for instance), and each of those communities has its own set of unwritten, yet easily understood, communication rules."
While McCann stresses the importance of catering to an intended audience, he also emphasizes understanding among different groups, especially in the area of education.
"It may be perfectly fine to use text-speak when communicating with close friends (as long as the meaning is clearly understood), but when communicating with bosses, teachers, and businesses, it's not appropriate. Most people - even 'hyper-texting' young people - understand that," he explained. "Perhaps we...should be teaching more about audience awareness, rather than criticizing a legitimate form of communication (text-speak)."