Yesterday, my friend and I
were talking (and by talking I mean texting). We were discussing the benefits
of texting/tweeting/emailing/facebooking (is that a verb?) in lieu of phone
calls.
I, for one, love the ability to
reach out in written communique rather than phoning a friend (royalty alert). I
often feel I’ll sound stupid or poorly prepared on the telephone. The quick
reaction and quick thinking on a phone call just isn’t the case when I write my
message. I can reread it quickly and send it out rather than pausing verbally
to contemplate my answer or response.
As a con, I feel a phone call
often forces a person to take the time to speak with me. I’m not giving them
many options. Sure, they could send me to voicemail but do they really want to
record my wah, wah, wah? With a typed message on whatever the device at hand,
they can answer, leave it for later, or respond in any form they choose.
My other HUGE pro towards the
written word is the multi tasking I feel I’m getting accomplished. I’ve been known to carry on four or five
conversations via text simultaneously about completely different subjects and
get so much accomplished. Or maybe I’m not known for that. Perhaps those
friends on the other end have no idea I’m multitasking. To them, they have my
undivided attention.
At times, I’m even coordinating
between several people about the same subject and there’s no need for the time
lapse a phone call would have. “I’ll call you back after I speak with the
babysitter.” Or, “I’ll let you know when he gets home, yada, yada.” (woops,
another royalty alert) Instead, it’s instant information at your fingertips.
We also discussed (by texting, of
course) the fact that sometimes it’s just a one or two word answer or message:
Home Safe, Pick Up Kids, Get Milk (notice I didn’t say got?) and those are so
much faster and to the point than a long drawn out conversation that inevitably
will turn into the “what’s wrong, why do you sound mad at me” questions I
always end up asking the Hubs. He stays in his safe zone if it’s just a text.
Do you think most people, like
me, have moved on from the telephone or do you think I’m just part of a small
few?
I completely agree. But sometimes I miss the sound of someone's voice... and also with text the conversation just drops and there is no obvious end such as a good bye or see you later like in a call. And I think should I have said anything else, were we done? But yes I agree I wish my Mother would text sometimes. It is easier, but then I wonder if it's a crutch too and we are actually pushing ourselves further away from each other rather than closer. Meh text me, we'll talk about it. lol
ReplyDeleteWhich is yet another reason we are such good friends! Text/tweet away. I will say though that sometimes you do need to hear that voice on the other side...for me it is just few and far between that I really want it ;-)
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