Cyber-Disinhibition

Have you ever been guilty of cyber-disinhibition? Sometimes referred to as "flaming," cyber-disinhibition is a phenomenon that can occur when a person is upset and sends an angry or other type of emotionally-charged (and often unfortunate message) via e-mail. A disconnect between a computer monitor and the social brain, which appears to have been designed for face-to-face interaction, results in a lack of emotional cues. These are typically picked up in person-to-person communications or even via telephone calls from the tone of the person’s voice. Before you send off a communication you might later regret, count to ten, ask a trusted colleague to read the message, or even sleep on it for a night.