I think it’s not just podcasts that do this editing. I recall some furor last year regarding a major television network and an interview that was edited and released in a manner that many interpreted as biased. Without trying to stray into political territory, I’ll just say that I think this happens quite a lot in various media and for a number of reasons.
The punctuation thing bothers me, though, because I think our written language[1] developed that over time as a means to separate, clarify, and communicate distinct ideas, and we have it and use it for good reasons. When someone is going to communicate in English, that person is essentially entering an agreement to an accepted set of rules for the exchange of information. Casual communication aside (e.g., I understand that SMS and chat messages are frequently “informal” exchanges), leaving out punctuation seems to indicate one or more of a number of things, including disregard or disrespect for the language (accepted rules for its use), a failure to understand the audience/recipient/source and especially the intent of the other party/parties, ignorance about how and why the established system works, and apathy and/or laziness.
This all reminds me of reading a few years ago about how Gen Z has “canceled” certain emojis because of the way they perceive them, though I haven’t ever read any explanation of why some of these people interpret certain emojis in these ways. Their inability or unwillingness to describe the “why” also strikes me as problematic.
I believe that part of communication that some people often fail to recognize is the responsibility of both parties not only to send but also to receive information, and reception isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a totally passive process. Since communication is a two-way endeavor, it’s important to listen (even figuratively) and comprehend what the other party is saying, and often that involves discerning the intent of the other party. If there is no evidence that the person sending a message has rude/hostile/aggressive/whatever intent when using a (correct) period or even a certain emoji for emphasis or to convey tone, then something else is happening to cause the recipient to interpret the message in that way, and the recipient should try to figure out why that is. (This calls for more self reflection and less self absorption.) I think this part of communication probably isn’t being stressed/taught enough, especially to younger generations, who also seem to be lacking in other critical thinking skills.
This isn’t really an age thing, either. I see this kind of thing happen all the time right here in the Forum, where even older users (who in the past have commented on their own vast IT experience or whatever) are often quick to reply to a user’s problem with a “solution” that indicates they didn’t actually read/comprehend/understand the original problem as stated. That’s why I think good follow-up questions are often important before even beginning to formulate an answer.
I’m confining my discussion to English because that’s my primary language. ↩︎