First Jobs: OMG, LOL!
BiB Contributor | George Howell
This may seem like a no brainer to some. It may be an OMG moment for others. Clearly, there is growing confusion…
You’d be surprised by the number of broadcast journalism interns I’ve worked with who use textspeak in work-related email – I’ve seen some even use it when writing news script! LOL! (actually, I learned “LOL” is now out. Replaced by close cousin, “Haha!”) Granted, we’re all likely to use SMS shorthand at some point in the day, but it seems the more we text, chat, and DM each other, the more the lines become blurred between the appropriate and inappropriate usage of such abbreviations.
Beyond the peppered in jk’s, ROFL’s, and gr8′s – punctuation, grammar, proper spelling, and capitalization also suffer in some of the writing I’ve seen. A lot of people have trouble recognizing the difference between words like there, their and they’re, and your and you’re. For instance, I can’t remember the email verbatim, but a college grad (who will remain anonymous) once sent me a message that looked something like this:
“hi george Im really interested in broadcast if ur able to help that would be cool. I would love to work their. Please let me know how to get started and that would be gr8.”
I really did get something like this before. OMG!
The best way to make a bad first impression is to assume that informal communication styles are acceptable in professional settings. In most cases, they are not. Whether it’s broadcast journalism or any other professional career path – spelling mistakes, poor grammar, and lack of punctuation/capitalization give off the impression that the writer either lacks maturity, or is just careless.
Given that so much of our daily communication is so informal via iPhone, facebook, and twitter, I can appreciate how some people might get confused from time to time. So, here are a few general tips about using textspeak (via email, facebook, SMS text, direct message) in the business setting:
- from friend to friend => ok
- from relative to relative => of course!
- from job seeker to potential employer => bad!
- from intern to intern => sure
- from intern to direct supervisor (like internship supervisor Haley Cihock) => nooooo!
- from intern to news director => don’t expect to be taken seriously
- from employee to same level employee => depends upon whether the two are friends, or strictly work colleagues
- from employee to supervisor => depends upon whether the situation is formal or informal; also, if the two are friends or strictly colleagues
- from intern on fb to new friend at work on fb (supervisor) => no!
Those are just a few scenarios that come to mind. Be sure to think twice about whether formal or informal communication is appropriate before sending off that next message. To make a good first impression, you’ll want to get it right the first time!
Good luck!
