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sual than written language. II The vulnerability of SM to misunderstanding from the perspective of the cooperative principle The process of sending SM is so easy and informal that people treat it as they do conversation. SM is a bit like a conversation at the water cooler that can be instantly forwarded to 50 people. For a conversation to be successful, in most social contexts, the participants need to feel they are contributing something to it and are getting something out of it. For this to happen, certain conditions must apply. Everyone must have an opportunity to speak: no one should be monopolizing or constantly interrupting. The participants need to make their roles clear; they need to have a sense of when to speak or stay silent; when to proffer information or hold it back; when to stay aloof or become involved. The success of a conversation depends not only on what speakers say but on their whole approach to the interaction. “Our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of disconnected remarks, and would not be rational if they did. They are characteristically, to some degree at least, cooperative efforts; and each participant recognizes in them, to some extent, a common purpose or set of purposes, or at least a mutually accepted direction” (Grice 1975: 45). People adopt a “cooperative principle” when they communicate with each other: they try to get along with each other by following certain conversational “maxims” that underlie the efficient use of language. Four basic maxims have been proposed. The maxim of quality states that speakers’ contributions to a conversation ought to be true. They should not say what they believe to be false, nor should they say anything for which they lack adequate evidence. The maxim of quantity states that contributions should be as informative as is required for the purposes of the conversation. One should say neither too little nor too much. The maxim of relevance states that conversations should clearly relate to the purpose of the exchange. The maxim of manner states that the contribution should be perspicuous, in particular, that it should be orderly and brief, avoiding obstructing ambiguity. In short, these maxims specify what participants have to do in order to converse in a maximally efficient, rational, co-operative way: they should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while providing sufficient information. But the use of terms principle and maxim does not mean that the cooperative principle and its maxims will be followed by everybody all the time. If people violate these maxims deliberately, listeners may draw inference from what speakers have said and work out the implicature of the utterance. But for SM users, violation of maxims is done passively. Then let us take a look at the following short messages recorded in the author’s mobile phone. No.1. A: “Still busy?”---9:40 pm (Conversation started, but A’s purpose is confusing) No.2. B: “Not too busy, what’s up?”---9:41 pm (Actually B was very busy in his essay, may be writing, but B inferred that A must have something important to tell.) No.3. A: “When you worked in the Computer Association, have you ever failed to negotiate with sponsors?”---9:46 pm (It takes A 5 minutes to respond. He attempts to make his words appropriate. B has to suspend his work and wait for a direct answer. But this answer seems so irrelevant.) No.4. B: “No”---9:47 pm (B tries to