Original post: hachyderm.io (Mastodon)
(I lowered the white levels of the original attached image to try to save people who put their screen brightness too high and/or room lighting too low from themselves - this is your hostile reminder to stop giving yourself eyestrain 🙏)
I disagree with this absolute. I’ve sent people messages like “friendly reminder: you have soup on the stove.” My intent is friendly: remind them that they have impending soup and remind them not to burn down the house. Specifying “friendly” was my attempt to soften the blow, as many of the people I have reminded are aware they’re forgetful and become defensive, even if the reminder is needed.
I no longer use that approach because it’s been so consistently received so poorly, but the reminders were friendly in terms of intent. I don’t think I’ve yet discovered a way to convey this kind of friendly reminder without annoying the recipient, but I still try.
I agree that a “friendly reminder” from a corporation is very unlikely to be as it describes itself.