A splash of almond milk imprinted a dot underneath the W key of my keyboard. Fingernail analysis decreed my index nail, to be the most equipped, in removing the blemish. I scratched at it. Multiple W’s sequenced horizontally across my Word doc. I began to delete them, but as the cursor approached the final W, I stayed the winking line and considered leaving the letter there. The consequences of which fascinated me. 

What would the reader think? Would they comment on the misplaced letter? If so, would they delve further and scrutinize my grammatical skills? Quite possibly thinking my attention to detail measured my intelligence and posited me as lacking in knowledge? 

In the end, I fell to the pressure of societal norms and erased the letter.

Written language, in the age of social media, has set a new hierarchy when communicating with a person. 

I believe it rates as such:

1. Text message.
2. Social media message.
3. Responding to someone’s status with a like, etc.
4. Watching a person’s story. 
5. Email.

As one communication vessel is ignored, another fills its place. 

Symbols hijack emotional states. 

An emoji signals for silence. Cartoon expressions are treasured, aid us in understanding these methods of hello, lacking tone and body language. Harkening back to childhood, when baser instincts translated, stone faced Sesame-Street-puppets and their performances, bridging the gap between Mickey Mouse smiling, knowing he’s happy and Eeyore frowning, knowing he’s the curmudgeon. 

As with anything human, it’s never that easy. 

What does it mean if someone won’t text a person back, but they’ll view their social media story?

There’s no cartoon trainer, guiding our perceptions, on such rejections, or the opposite, when there’s too much text on screen. 

Humans adapt quite well. We’re capable of exploiting resources, ideas, or physical objects to simplify existence. 

However, unforeseen consequences arise from our adaptations (global warming to list one). 

What are these consequences pertaining to such new methods of communication…

¯\_(ツ)_/¯