Today, it is different, by far. I find myself determining if I "like", trust, or want anything to do with someone by their written communications and written behaviors over time. This topic has been on my mind recently as I was thinking and making a decision about someone based exclusively on their written communications and behaviors. I also realized that this was exactly what people have been doing about me :-) How else could we do it if that is all we have? Many times , that IS all we have in our online communications society.
I really like this way better than the face to face and observation method because it is a faster , more efficient, and accurate way to discern what a person is like. We don't have the distractions of looks, facial expressions, body language, etc. (all which can easily be faked). We do have behaviors/communications in email responses, chat room , sound cloud, and facebook interactions. Written communications go directly to the mind and heart without distractions. Many communications(and associated behaviors) over time, tell me if this is a person I want to continue to communicate with or if this person is, perhaps, mean, insensitive, inconsiderate, rude, self-serving and can't be trusted with my thoughts and feelings. These interactions will also tell me if their heart and mind are in the right place.
I am sure others are thinking about my communications also. I, personally, have met many wonderful, nice, kind, and very interesting people from online communications. I have met people I call....friend. I have also run into a few with the less desirable qualities I mentioned, but, we do that in face to face communications also.
I believe that we are doing this discernment without even realizing it. We assess other people's email/chat responses...are they abrupt or are they kind...do they follow thru...are they polite and respectful...are they consistent in what they say and how they say it. I mean, we have a wealth of info that we don't have in face to face communications to determine if we basically "like" someone....how great is that? :-)
However, just as in face to face communications, it is a process over time and one that requires adjustments as more info is acquired.....but, isn't that what we do in face to face ?
Thus :
"Written communications and their associated behaviors go directly to the heart and mind without distraction"
So.....why do I like you?....just ask me:-)