: Re: Standard format for symbols that denaote text, phone or email message or dialogue, when all are used in same story I am writing a short fiction piece that has rapid fire texts, emails, phone

@Annie587

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I am not aware of any "standard" way of representing different communications modes.
Note this is not a totally new problem brought on by 21st century technology. There have been multiple modes of communication since the beginning of recorded history, including speech, sign language, and writing. You probably need to distinguish a written letter from a sign or something engraved on a building. Etc.
In the 1800s people added telegraph. In the 1900s they added telephone, radio, teletype, and toward the end of the century fax and email. Etc.
Traditionally, writers have made the distinction by simply introducing a communication with brief text describing it's nature. Like, "Bob opened the letter from Sally. 'Hello, Bob', it read. 'I heard that you are now ..." etc. Or, "Jared picked up the telephone. 'Is that you, Jared?' the caller asked ..." And so on.
You COULD use symbols. But because pretty much no one else does it, if you do it, it would look strange. Maybe readers would figure it out if the symbols were intuitive enough, but more likely you'd have to explain. You MIGHT succeed in starting a new convention. But probably not.
I think you'd still end up needing text to introduce each new communication or your story would sound very choppy and abrupt. Like: (let me just use parenthesized words to represent the symbols, I don't want to bother digging up icons.)

Juan arrived back at his office. He didn't realize how long he had been gone.
(email) Todd: Did you finish the Paradigm report?
(email) Juan: No. I'll have it for you today.
Juan walked to the window.
(text message) Jane: Don't forget the party tonight.

Etc. That seems really choppy to me. I think you'd need to say things like, "He sat down at his desk and opened his email" and "His phone beeped, indicating he'd received a text message. He pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Jane", the caller ID said." Etc. And once you do that, the text makes it clear what the communications medium is and you don't need to introduce additional symbols.
Yes, sometimes there are scenes where you want to convey that something is happening rapidly, and writing, "he looked at his cell phone on the desk and saw that a message had arrived ..." could break the flow; it might make it seem like there's more delay than you want your reader to perceive. Still, surely you could find conventional ways to express the idea. "Then he got a text from Jane: Don't forget ..." If you want to convey a truly rapid-fire set of messages in multiple media, like someone at the disaster crisis headquarters in a whirlwind of texts, phone calls, emails, whatever, you could just put a word or to to identify the medium:

George was caught in a whirlwind of panicked messages.
Text: There's a fire on Cromwell Street!
Email: Reporters of riotors downtown!
Another text: Wild animals rampaging through the streets!

Etc.
In general, I'd avoid creating a new notation or format or whatever unless you really, really need it. A new notation that the reader is not familiar with is going to distract from the story. The reader has to figure out the notation instead of just reading the story. And even when they figure it out, it's going to be jumping out of the page at them, because it's unfamiliar.
If there's some reason why the communications medium is vitally important and you WANT it to jump out at the reader, if the story is about different communications mediums and how they affect our perception of the communication, maybe so. Otherwise, I'd stick with more conventional means.

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