How to communicate when trust is low without digging yourself into a deeper hole
> TRY TO SOUND FRIENDLY.<p>> Say "please" and "thank you"... use emojis...<p>I'll add to this one -- use exclamation points!<p>It's actually ridiculous how effective all these little things are.<p>In my experience, men, engineers, and especially engineers who are men tend to think of this as unnecessary fluff. They often decline to add these little social niceties because to them, they sound inauthentic.<p>That's not a character flaw or anything! You have every right to feel that way. I do think it is just categorically wrong, though.<p>I don't know a better way to say it, but: you should really just start doing this. Even if it feels weird to you, it is incredible the degree to which it eases text-based interactions. Even if <i>you</i> aren't noticing it, I promise that other people are.