June 18, 2014

Between my business and my personal life I seem to have a daily conversation about texting.

I was texting with a friend recently and he texted “I am happy to be talking with you. It always makes me feel so good.” I looked at the text and thought “we aren’t talking, we are texting.”
I called him and when he answered I said “We aren’t talking. We are texting. You are home, I’m home, let’s just talk.” The conversation was more warm and personal and there was more laughter. I would much rather hear someone’s laughter than read LOL.

These are some of the things I don’t like about texting.

1) It is easy for someone to misinterpret a text. You have no eye contact, no tone and no inflection. I cannot tell you how many times my clients have called me because they were confused about a text, not sure how to interpret it, or turned off to the point that they do not want to see the other person again.
2) It is easy to lie. If someone tells you they did not receive a text you sent them, although you may not believe them, you know there is a remote possibility that it did not go through.
3) It is very impersonal and inspires people to act in ways they normally would not act if they were talking with you. You can give more of yourself than you would in a conversation. This is especially true for shy people who will text things that otherwise would be out of their comfort zone.
4) It circumvents the whole time line of how people get to know each other. There is a level of disconnect you would not have and if you were having a conversation.
5) Texting allows both parties to control. You have the opportunity to consider what has been texted, think about it and compose your response. It takes away spontaneity of having to use your own wit and intelligence to respond instantly.
6) People always talk about saving time and yet it takes more time to text than talk.

I am sure some of these things that I do not like are things that many people see as advantages. Although I do appreciate the value of texting on some level, I do not believe it will never replace conversation. I think it will be a sad day if it ever does and it makes me think of the song “American Pie”…the day the music died.

To be continued…………..