How electronic short messages influence digital communication

Electronic short messages are increasingly used in private and professional communication and function as one of the most important communication channels in interpersonal information transfer. The study focuses on questions of targeted communication in private and professional contexts and the extent to which electronic short messages prove to be a limited means of communication. The central finding regarding the test subjects’ usage was that problems caused by misunderstandings in short messages occur more frequently in the private sphere than in the professional sphere. Short messages often do not lead to targeted communication, but rather to misunderstandings and queries because the principle of linguistic economy is followed. The data also show that the lack of verbal contact can be seen as a reason for misunderstandings in short message-based communication. Project management: Prof. Dr. Alfred-Joachim Hermanni / Prof. Dr. Frederik Ornau. Project team (students at SRH Fernhochschule): Inge Demuth, Iris Frank, Katrin Hecker, Michaela Herke-Kehne, Susanne Meinhardt, Melanie Menig.