Miscommunication with New Communication Technologies

I believe that the possibilities for miscommunication with new communication technologies is more than ever before, and may get progressively worse in the future.

Most of us use mobile phones, and it is quite common to experience dropped calls. In the ad campaign for Cingular cell phones, commercials illustrated just how devastating a dropped call can be. In one particularly strong commercial, a person calls the suicide hotline from the top of a building, and while the counselor at the other end is trying to convince him that taking his own life is not a good option, the line goes dead, and the screen turns black, hinting at disastrous consequences. The slogan is "Fewer dropped calls". (View the commercial online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRNkHugEu6w)

There are also problems with emails. Sometimes, one misunderstands the "tone" of an email because one cannot actually hear the voice behind it. I've heard complaints from friends about how their emotions are constantly misinterpreted if they do not explicitly use emoticons [:-) :-( etc.]. In cases where emoticons are not appropriate (e.g. a semi-professional setting such as being a club-member), it is difficult to correctly interpret a person's tone under many circumstances.