×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ

Society

The research that will help you not suck at digital communication

Should that meeting have been an email? Is it ever ok to send a voice note? Andrew Brodsky has studied the communication habits of 100,000 people and has the answers

By Chris Stokel-Walker

26 February 2025

×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Michelle Kondrich

Few things in life are as fraught as how we communicate, whether it is anxiously picking the right words to scribble in a Valentine’s Day card or agonising over how to ask your boss an awkward question. And that is before you even get into the murkier realm of digital communication and the newfound perils of, shudder, “hybrid meetings”.

knows these challenges better than most. Based at the University of Texas at Austin, he is a specialist in workplace technology and communication. His own circumstances meant face-to-face exchanges weren’t always possible in his teens, and this led…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with ×îÐÂÂé¶¹ÊÓÆµ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop