Tone indicators are shorthand for words used to convey tone, i.e, a quality in the voice that expresses the speaker's feelings or thoughts.
Why do we need to use these though? When verbal cues and tones are written down, they might be hard for people to understand, especially for neurodivergent people.
Tone indicators help people to understand the tone conveyed, and hence it is important to use them whenever something said can be interpreted in several ways, or is said differently from the literal meaning.
It is especially important to use tone indicators on social media since a wide number of people use them and a lot of them may need tone indicators for clarity.
Tone indicators are being used more and more on the internet, the most common ones being:
/j | joking |
/hj | half-joking |
/s | sarcastic |
/gen or /g | genuine |
/srs | serious |
/nsrs | non-serious |
/pos or /pc | positive connotation |
/neu | neutral connotation |
/neg or /nc | negative connotation |
/l or /ly | lyrics |
/lh | light-hearted |
/nm | not mad |
/lu | a little upset |
/t | teasing |
/ij | inside joke |
/m | metaphorically |
/li | literally |
/f | fake |
/th | threat |
Tone indicators are usually used by putting them at the end of the relevant sentence.
Eg. Wow, that's hilarious! /gen
Wow, that's hilarious! /s
The first one indicates genuineness, while the second one indicates sarcasm. Without the tone indicators, it would have generally been confusing to figure out what tone is being portrayed. Even with the context, it can be difficult for a lot of us.
Most of us have had an interaction where we were left confused due to not understanding the intention of the other person, especially on social media. Tone indicators would certainly make these interactions a lot easier.
It is important to use them even if you feel like you don't need them since you never know who might.
It is recommended to use tone indicators both at the beginning and end of sentences/text if they might otherwise cause distress or alarm.
Tone indicators can be used by, and for, anyone.
They came about as a way for neurodivergent people to be able to understand tone through text, but tone indicators are a helpful tool for everyone. Anyone can use them, whether they’re neurodivergent or not. A lot of neurodivergent people don’t need or want tone indicators. It is still important to use them, just to convey a clear message.
There are some points to remember before using tone indicators:
Don’t use tone indicators as a joke. That defeats their whole purpose.
Don’t use tone indicators excessively, since it may come off as condescending.
Don’t make fun of people who use and need tone indicators, they serve a good purpose.
Thank you for reading up to the end! We hope you've learned something from this blog, and that you'll start using tone indicators if you don't already.
Have a great day! /gen
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