Texting vs Phoning

[Sirquacksalot]

Hey all,

 

A different thread made me curious: What're your thoughts on how to communicate with people: Do you call them on the phone and talk in person normally, or text?

 

I can't stand talking to people on the phone. For example, my parents will call me about once a week, and since they're using a land-line (Still? really?), I have no option but to talk for that immediate 30 minute period to them. They always find that 30 minute window where I was A) Going to take a shower/goto the bathroom, B) Head out to run an errand/goto work, or C) About to head out with friends, which makes the entire thing an exercise in patience until a natural break when I can tell them 'Actually, its a terrible time to have called, I'm just _____. Can I call you back?'

 

Almost all of my friends polled on this agree, texting is how we communicate most effectively. Instead of the usual 10 minute phone call where the conversation goes 'So....' 'Yeeaaah...' 'Mmmhmmmm', its a quick 'Hey. We're going to the movies. 9pm. Be there?' or 'Going for dinner. Want to come?' and the entire exchange takes about 4 seconds.

 

On top of that, with texting its possible to determine if its an important message/text that deserves an immediate response vs calling where you think 'well... Julie COULD be calling me to see if she wants to hang out... or she could just be calling to 'talk''. Nothing irritates me more than the 'why'd you call?' 'Just calling to talk...' calls that take up 10-15 minutes and result in wasted time for both parties. I find that the ability to write out and put some thought into my responses is much better than the 'talking' bit which is much more immediate and leads to more 'uhm.....' 'let me check on that' stalling for time while you craft your answers.

 

I thought it would be interesting to get everyone's POV on this, since it seems alot of people have the reverse issue and much prefer the ol' 'pick up a phone and chat' method.

[ay0_x]

So much is misinterpreted through text messaging. It really is not a good mode of communication.

 

It totally kills people's social skills.

[Symbolic]

My and my friends all use text to send out mass messages so we all know where we are going at what times and what we are doing, instead of me having to call 5 people, i just make one text message and send it to 5 people. Much simpler.

[Doc Blaze]

if i need to talk to someone asap,or really important, i will call them right then and there...most of the time i text message......y?

 

because

 

1. im at work alot....i cant talk on the phone

2. i just started school-cant talk in school

3. im driving- in connecticut its illegal to talk on the phone and drive unless

you have one of those bluetooth headsets..

 

so most of the time im not available for long convos, so there is no point

my parents even send me txt messages now all the time because they

know thats the fastest way to reach me

[Crazyaboutdogs]

So much is misinterpreted through text messaging. It really is not a good mode of communication.

 

It totally kills people's social skills.

 

Exactly. Texting and email was never meant to replace verbal conversation, it was only meant to supplement it. Talking on the phone is spontaneous and allows you to guage people better than just the written word. Yes, text messages are good for firming up plans, but the telephone is how you actually connect with people on a more intimate level. Texting and email is superficial. Also, judging from what I have read on here, people waste more time texting meaningless garbage. As for landlines...there is more privacy using a landline than a cell phone..and it is easier to talk on the phone with a larger receiver. Cell phones are big money wasters.

[Doc Blaze]

Exactly. Texting and email was never meant to replace verbal conversation, it was only meant to supplement it. Talking on the phone is spontaneous and allows you to guage people better than just the written word. Yes, text messages are good for firming up plans, but the telephone is how you actually connect with people on a more intimate level. Texting and email is superficial. Also, judging from what I have read on here, people waste more time texting meaningless garbage. As for landlines...there is more privacy using a landline than a cell phone..and it is easier to talk on the phone with a larger receiver. Cell phones are big money wasters.

 

people should learn to adapt to technology.

 

cell phones have saved me from so many different situations.

 

 

you going to use your landline when your car breaks down in the middle of no where?>

[In the Dark]

So much is misinterpreted through text messaging. It really is not a good mode of communication.

 

It totally kills people's social skills.

 

In the sense of communicating, through attraction and getting to know someone, you really have to be good with your words in texting.

 

If you and somene is having a tiff through texting DON'T DO IT.

It only gets worse through misinterpretation.

 

If there is * * * * to be sorted out, make sure it is always face to face.

[Crazyaboutdogs]

people should learn to adapt to technology.

 

cell phones have saved me from so many different situations.

 

 

you going to use your landline when your car breaks down in the middle of no where?>

 

 

I have a cell phone for emergency purposes. I have a pay as you go plan. I don't feel the need to sit on a bus and chat about personal matters while the whole bus is listening. Nor do I feel like I need to text people to tell them I am picking my nose..and people should be in lectures listening to the professor, not texting their friends about the wild time they had the night before.

[g84]

Although i think texting can be very convenient in some situations, i would prefer regular phoning/calling overall. I think it would be sad if everyone just started texting rather than calling eachother, personally.

You made the landline phone sound like it's something so ancient :S lol.

[shes2smart]

3. im driving- in connecticut its illegal to talk on the phone and drive unless

you have one of those bluetooth headsets..

 

Good Lord, I hope you are not texting while driving. The way the above is worded can be interpreted to mean that you're choosing to text so you don't get ticketed for talking on your cell phone while driving.

 

link removed

 

If you are texting while driving you are taking a Truly Stupid Risk. Not only that, but you are putting others at risk with your poor choices.

 

If it's that damn important and can't wait, pull over to the side of the road or pull into a parking lot and send your message. Leave the rest of us out of it.

 

Should people adapt to technology? Sure. They should, however, learn to use it for their advantage and benefit and not become slaves to it. One way people become slaves to it is being reachable most or all of the time. All those dire situations portrayed to market things like cell phones do not happen all that often. Most people will encounter them just a handful of times over the course of a lifetime....if at all.

 

Sometimes, it's good to shut the world off for a while and be unreachable.

 

Many people seem to have forgotten that....and some of them never knew it because they haven't lived in a world prior to cell phones & internet.

[Doc Blaze]

i was giving reason why i dont talk on the phone and have no time so i text..i dont talk or text while im driving..if someone calls me i pick up for like 5 seconds to tell them im driving and i will give them a call when i get to wherever im going...im highly against anyone texting while driving but in CT you cant even hold your phone to your ear and talk while driving...its illegal

[Doc Blaze]

I have a cell phone for emergency purposes. I have a pay as you go plan. I don't feel the need to sit on a bus and chat about personal matters while the whole bus is listening. Nor do I feel like I need to text people to tell them I am picking my nose..and people should be in lectures listening to the professor, not texting their friends about the wild time they had the night before.

 

 

 

 

sorry i have a 3.87 gpa(justice law and administration) try though, im one of the few who can txt,talk and know exactly what the professor is saying

[sparkles4]

It depends on the situation. If I just want to ask someone a quick question, say what's up or verify plans, I'll just send a text rather than call them up just for that. But for a more in-depth discussion I would call the person. Trying to have a serious conversation over text is always a train wreck.

[Life-is]

ImSoAwesome

 

Did you see the Island or what? Btw, I am very much like the "kids" of echo generation. Curious, fearless and relating to others without the sexual angle.

 

As for texting, talking, and listening to the professor all at once, research shows that our brains do not perform optimally if we force it to multitask that way. Perhaps that explains the gap between 3.87 and 4.00. Jokes aside, the research has good reasons for us to pay attention to it. We bring down our performance level when we multitask.

[Doc Blaze]

ImSoAwesome

 

Did you see the Island or what? Btw, I am very much like the "kids" of echo generation. Curious, fearless and relating to others without the sexual angle.

 

As for texting, talking, and listening to the professor all at once, research shows that our brains do not perform optimally if we force it to multitask that way. Perhaps that explains the gap between 3.87 and 4.00. Jokes aside, the research has good reasons for us to pay attention to it. We bring down our performance level when we multitask.

 

i pay attention..i dont study..i study maybe 1 or 2 hours before the test..thats why I dont have a 4.0..

[mfan]

I hate when people write me a long text message and assume I have some full-sized keyboard to text them back, when I just have a dinky cell phone where I have to hit each key 1-3 times to type a letter. It's like 10 minutes to type one message. I never initiate text conversations but they don't get the clue.

[Life-is]

i pay attention..i dont study..i study maybe 1 or 2 hours before the test..thats why I dont have a 4.0..

 

GPA is overrated. I have a 3.8 GPA too from a cut-throat school, but I don't take it seriously.

 

As for optimal performance, a lot of stuff has been written on Flow and Focus and Concentration, etc. I am slowly seeing merit in them all.

[drewciouS281]

I dont mind texting when im busy or am unable to talk on the phone but i prefer the phone, especially when someone tries to have a long ass conversation via text. Alot of the time people misunderstand the meaning of your text too. Im like "how the hell can you tell if im yelling or not? Its freaking text message!" lol. I hate that!

[Inquirer89]

I'm a big fan of text messaging. Though actually having a voice to voice conversation over a telephone whether it be a cell or land line is quite nice at times. I prefer text messaging because normally I'm in the middle of something I don't want or can't drop at the drop of a hat because somebody has to call me at that exact moment. They can leave me a text if it's that important that they cannot wait until I'm available. Hell I text my boyfriend more than I talk to him over a phone. He's military and is up from 5am to whenever he's relieved of duty..sometimes late as 10 at night. He can't just up and phone me during the day! So we text each other. It's much more convenient especially when both of us are at work. I much prefer texting because you can actually think about what you want to say to somebody rather than over the phone and saying something wrong because you hadn't time to think it through completely.

 

And I agree with the above poster..long conversations about the same thing gets exhausting over text messages. Instances such as those should be reserved for a voice to voice conversation rather than hashing it out longer than need be. I like to keep texting to the short chit chat. But I have had long conversations over a text, I didn't necessarily mind it at the time because I was interested in what the topic(s) was. Everybody has their own tastes. Those who would rather text and those who like to actually speak to the person they're having comms with. To each their own!

 

But when it comes to technology such as these I think majority of society is spoiled.. We're accustomed to having everyone get in contact with us 24/7 or having the ability to. We have TVs, PDAs, laptops etc even in our bedroom, which I think is pretty dumb to be honest..Only thing I believe should be left in the bedroom is the cell phone and nothing else.

[Clarity]

Txts are good for: notifications (i.e. times, places, names)

 

Phone calls are good for: everything else.