I’ve long suspected that heavy use of passive voice indicates a passive person.
I’ve had so many times when I’ve pointed out passive voice to people who’ve asked me to look over something and had them respond, “It just sounds more natural that way.”
If one finds it difficult to conceive of taking action, of course passive voice will sound more natural.
The Grammarly browser extension now has a feature that detects tone, or at least attempts to, in much the same, fumbling way that the Grammarly software attempts to do anything.
It labeled a flat-out rant I’d written as having an “appreciative” tone.
It also labeled a draft of my blog post on 2019 as “accusatory.” Take that, 2019!
This shouldn’t need saying, but not everyone has an office job.
I can’t count how many articles concerning unrelated topics casually reference how we all spend too much time sitting at desks, how we all spend too much money picking up our lattes on the way to the office, and how our inboxes are too cluttered.
If that’s the writer’s personal experience, fine. Use first person pronouns instead of acting as though we all have the same job, or assuming that people who make less money aren’t your audience.