Here is a little experiment that I started, which I wanted to compare the differences in direct verbal communication and that via an electronic medium. In this experiment, I used Garage Band to record sound waves when I communicated differently.
This first image shows a normal conversation, complete with natural intonation and rhythm. Vocalics comes into play here, using different emphasis in words to bring across my point. The emotion in this conversation was neutral, still you can see the very interesting variables in the speech, some elongated, some emphasized and some louder.
Compare that with this second image, this was another conversation during a neutral state of emotion, recorded of the sound of my typing on an online messenger to another person. The tapping on the keyboard is quite rhythmic and consistent, with the chime at the end which is played when the other party responds. We can see a more concealed soundwave with less input available to analyse emotion.
How do we express our emotions through the typing of words, and convey our thoughts without the help of vocalics and body language, in the cover of our online avatars?
