Formal or Informal? Choosing the Right Tone for Digital Communications

Today’s social media began taking shape in the early 2000s with platforms such as MySpace and LinkedIn. It has since expanded into influential applications such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat.

Text messaging likewise gained popularity in the early 2000s and peaked in usage between 2006 and 2010. It then broadened widely into app-based messaging.

In yet another track, email became increasingly common in the 1990s until establishing itself as a channel we now use in perpetuity.

We can exchange messages with greater access, speed, and convenience than ever before. Paired with the vast, rapid growth of other digital media such as the internet, our content now reaches for the infinite.

Within this effusion of writing, many of us have also likely noticed the steady shift toward greater brevity and informality. Words and sentences now compact into emojis and abbreviations. Information arrives in bits instead of in context. Unfiltered or misshaped emotion might blur the intent of a message that’s sent.

Barring unforeseen directional shifts, our cultural trend may continue to favor writing that is casual and impulsive as opposed to formal and focused. However, we who follow the art of the written word can still promote precision and eloquence by remaining aware of the audience, the format, and how we wish to make a point that’s received.

Formal or Informal: The Impact of Verbal vs. Nonverbal

Maintaining proper form in our writing becomes all the more important when we consider vital missing elements: nonverbal factors such as posture, eye contact, tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions.

Written words can often cause more misunderstandings than words spoken with nonverbal cues. How often have we received a text or an email from someone and been reactive because of what we thought they might have meant?

Consider the following first-time text exchange between an individual and a landscaper seeking new business.

Diego: What if my yard can’t fit another ficus tree by the berm?

Landscaper: Why not? You should know.

Diego: I don’t know. It doesn’t look like there’s enough room.

Landscaper: Measure it.

Diego: How do I do that?

Landscaper: Measuring tape or measuring wheel. Hardware or home-improvement store.

How does the tone of this thread sound to you? The landscaper may have been feeling helpful and earnest when responding. Whether Diego saw it that way depends on his personality and expectations. Going strictly by the verbal component, he could have received the exchange as more casual and curt than professional.

Readers often bring their own emotions and assumptions to what they read. Without nonverbal communication in support, writing that is too formal or too casual can be perceived as rude, aloof, aggressive, disrespectful, or indifferent.

Distinguishing Formal and Informal Writing

To communicate with proper clarity and intent, we want to understand and master the difference between formal and casual writing. This is especially true in digital writing such as text, email, and messaging apps, where decorum can often get lost.

To this end, we can distinguish formal and informal writing according to its audience, context, tone, language, structure, and purpose as in the following examples.

Formal Writing
Audience	Employers, teachers, officials, clients, readers of factual news
Context	Academic, medical, legal, professional, governmental, journalism/reporting
Tone	Objective, polite, serious, credible, respectful, not often emotional or exclamatory
Language	Complete grammatical sentences, correct punctuation, limited contractions, no slang
Structure	Organized paragraphs, sometimes greater length
Purpose	To inform, persuade, resolve, document

Digital (Informal) Writing
Audience	Friends, family, followers, consumers, familiar colleagues
Context	Email, blogs, text messages, social media, marketing
Tone	Fun, relaxed, friendly, conversational, sometimes emotional or excited
Language	Full or fragmented sentences, slang, idiom, emojis, looser grammar and punctuation
Structure	Typically brief, not always structured or organized
Purpose	To update, inspire, chat, promote, connect, engage

With these aspects in mind, let’s look at how formal writing and social-media writing might compare for similar purposes.

	Formal	Social Media
Invitation	You are cordially invited to our grand opening on August 18.	Grand Opening: August 18. Save the date and join us—you’re invited!
Product Update	The new system reinforces existing home security.	It’s like adding a layer of steel inside your home armor.
Reminder	Please return the form by September 15 if you wish to qualify.	Form due by September 15. Don’t miss out!
Apology	We sincerely apologize for your service disruption.	You expected—we missed. It’s our fault and we’re sorry.
Announcement	Ms. Karas has graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in artificial intelligence.	Krystyna got her degree in AI.
Denial	Thank you for your application. We have chosen another candidate but will keep your information on file.	Thank you for applying. We went with another choice, but we’ll hang on to your details.

Formal and Informal Writing: Building Bridges

As we’ve alluded to, both formal and informal writing can achieve undesired effects if not well placed. This can be particularly true with increasing informality, which can lead to miscommunication because of confusion, impulsivity, poor grammar and spelling, a lack of clarity, unfamiliar references, and a misunderstanding of tone or emotion.

The movement toward greater informality is likely here to stay. However, we can remain versatile and adaptive without abandoning proper written form, restraint, and meaning.

To do so, we can look for ways to blend formal and informal voices to make our content relatable while maintaining its integrity.

Consider the following:

Formal: This opportunity is limited to an exclusively selected group. Please return the form by September 15 if you wish to qualify.

Informal: We’ll choose only a few for the chance. Form due by September 15. Don’t miss out!

Blended: We’re choosing certain people for this opportunity. To make sure you qualify, send us the form by September 15.

For writers who are always learning and growing, this type of blending can be highly effective whether in commercial writing such as websites or colloquial writing such as daily correspondence with colleagues.

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