Texting is PerplexingPosted by admin on July 17th, 2009
I have been crawling through the trenches of chaos into which life occasionally throws us for the past week or so. Thus, I apologize profusely for neglecting the blog.
Today, as I was thumb-typing away, I wondered about the impact of texting on our styles of communication. Like most other young people, I am often guilty of pulling out the cell phone during a conversation to have a secondary, parsed one with some other friend or family member. While texting can be more discreet, it is potentially as rude as answering the phone while at lunch with a friend.
Both the best and worst part of texting is its immediacy. Since it doesn’t require true interruption, it often elicits a quick response. It’s useful in the “what do you want for dinner” sense. But this benefit comes with implied pressure. If you don’t answer within seconds…maybe up to three minutes, the other person will either get irritated or call you instead. And we all know that a connected pal is most likely to have an emergency which requires text-style attention at the very moment when the phone is hiding in the bottom of your purse or balanced on the center console of your parked car.
Sometimes I go through a whole day feeling disconnected from my son because my mind has been lost in texts or TwitterBerry. This world of instant answers exists on some plane that I cannot see, but definitely feel. When I’m not texting, I’m waiting for a text. Sometimes I make up a question or a need just to have an excuse to text someone. Oddly enough, no one’s quick answer erases loneliness. In fact, it can worsen boredom or sadness. A one-word response that arrives an hour too late is enough to make anyone feel like everyone else must have a life, when the truth is probably closer to lost phone syndrome.
Virtual communication allows us to withdraw from face-to-face communication to such an extent that we sometimes prefer it. Why have a real conversation, full of connotation and inflection, when we can have one that doesn’t even require “hello” or “goodbye?” The 160-character message has become the easiest way to run away from interpersonal discomfort. In many instances, though, this avoidance creates unnecessary issues. One cannot easily convey sarcasm, for example, without the functionality of bold and italics. Then, there’s the danger of overusing CAPS — “yelling.” Ironically, texting can take longer than a phone conversation because of the need to word a message precisely enough so that you are understood. One must consider tone and diction, and maybe squeeze in some punctuation. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for the arrival of the texting thesaurus.
Of course, in casual texting, who cares? But I often text for business, which requires walking a fine line between friendliness and professionalism, not to mention making sure you don’t send one of those casual texts to the wrong entry in your address book.
All possible errors aside, texting is a fun and convenient way to keep up with the bits and pieces of many personal relationships at one time. And it’s here to stay — at least until someone creates a mental telepathy app for the iPhone.
Do you have a love/hate relationship with texting?
