Conversations

Your Text Is Colder Than the Voice in Your Head

1:08 · 2026-10-11

Short written messages strip out the tone of voice, facial expression, and timing that the writer still hears in their head, so writers overestimate how clearly their intent comes through and readers fill the missing to…

Sources behind this episode

• peer-reviewed empirical study, details unverified“I get u”. People correctly interpret the tone of text messages and emailsComputers in Human Behavior Reports (2025); authors, volume, and sample details not yet confirmed.
• peer-reviewed experimental study, five studiesPerspective taking as egocentric anchoring and adjustmentEpley, Keysar, Van Boven, & Gilovich (2004). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 327-339.
• peer-reviewed experimental study, five experiments with student participantsEgocentrism Over E-Mail: Can We Communicate as Well as We Think?Kruger, Epley, Parker, & Ng (2005). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 925-936.
• peer-reviewed experimental study with replication of earlier egocentrism findingsCan the curse of knowing be lifted? The influence of explicit perspective-focus instructions on readers’ perspective-takingDamen, van der Wijst, van Amelsvoort, & Krahmer (2020). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 46(8), 1407-1423.
• peer-reviewed experimental study, three experimentsOverconfidence at the Keyboard: Confidence and Accuracy in Interpreting Affect in E-Mail ExchangesRiordan & Trichtinger (2017). Human Communication Research, 43(1), 1-24.
• peer-reviewed conceptual and theoretical articleCarrying too heavy a load? The communication and miscommunication of emotion by emailByron (2008). Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 309-327.