As your friend is talking to you, your cell phone vibrates for the umpteenth time. You pull your phone out of your back pocket and mindlessly tap your fingers across the keyboard sending the latest update of your life. You have gotten so good at texting you do not even look down as you type speedily.
The message could have been delivered faster with a call, however calling someone no longer seems like an option when sending a quick text message seems so much more effortless.
Text messaging has become the new-age way of communication. Picking up the phone and calling someone to talk seems so old fashioned to many people. Although texting may feel like you are exerting less effort than having a traditional conversation, it generally takes more than double the amount of time and effort to get a point across through texting than it does through making a phone call.
Most of the time people send about one or two sentences in a text message causing the conversation to go very slowly. Thus, the conversation loses meaning and interest dwindles. One cannot stay interested in a conversation that takes ten minutes of back and forth ten word texts to get to the point. Picking up the phone and calling a person takes much less time and is a lot more interesting. The conversation flows and points are made much quicker than they are over text.
“I really prefer calling because it’s easier to genuinely pay attention to what the person is saying rather than just mindlessly sending responses. It’s more distracting if you’re texting multiple people at once. You can’t really involve yourself in a deep conversation over text,” says senior Maggie Bermingham.
It is also hard to maintain an interesting or meaningful conversation via text when it is nearly impossible to put emotion to the words. Sure you could add an exclamation point or a smiley face, but it still does not add much emotion, it just makes your text a tad less dull. Over the phone or in a face-to-face conversation you can hear or see the emotion one has behind what they are saying which makes it more memorable and meaningful.
“Picking up the phone and calling someone is so much better than just sending them a quick little text. Half the time what people say over text doesn’t even make sense or it’s completely pointless. I would rather call the person and talk to them than just send a meaningless text,” says junior Moe Bah.
Although texting takes away from the emotional and meaningful aspects of communication, it does come in handy. When you are in class and forget to print out an assignment that follows the dreaded “no late policy” all you have to do is whip out your cell phone and stealthily text your parent to bring it to school for you. It also comes in handy when you need an address or a phone number. Instead of having to memorize it or search quickly for a pen and scrap of paper you can just save the address or number to your phone. Texting is also good when you are getting to know someone and do not want to have any awkward pauses in conversation.
“I prefer texting because I can talk to multiple people at once and don’t have to be limited to talking to just one person. I also like being able to do homework or watch T.V. and talk to people at the same time. On the phone I can’t multitask as easily,” says freshman Hari Mizouri.
While texting has become one of the newest and most popular forms of communication, it should not replace the importance of face to face conversations or phone calls. People should take a break from their cell phone screen and actually call someone to talk.
