Save your hands from Arthritis. Pick up the phone.
“Call you? That’s so 1990.”
In this day and age so many of us have come to rely on text as the dominant form of communication in many of our relationships. E-mails, Facebook chats, and SMSs vastly out number phone calls made or videos sent. Text is a great way to communicate information such as instructions, meeting times, and news stories, and Facebook and E-mail have given people the ability to stay connected and maintain friendships even after many years and over many miles. However, a word of caution, I believe text can be just as harmful as helpful in some cases. While information is rarely misunderstood, tone, feeling and most of all sarcasm rarely make it past the screen. We have all heard the expression “It’s not what you said. Its how you said it.” And while there are some variations in how one uses the word O.K. (“okay, kay, k, kk”) we have to ask, is that really enough information to go off during this 3 or 4 hour text conversation. And while some times it is more convenient to use text, for example when your working or in class, other times people will go out of their way to use text messaging and avoid phone calls, for example when driving. Long emails and hour texting conversations could be communicate much more quickly over the phone and give much more information about how the person. Tone of voice and direct dialogue are two key factors of communication left out by text conversations. From personal experience I think we can all remember a time where a text message was taken the wrong way by a friend and had a negative outcome. I also believe people are much more likely to say things without thinking about them, even though they are writing and typing them, than they would be if they we talking to the person directly. Phones and the invitation of video conference sites like Skype and ooVoo should not even have to compete with SMS as the medium for information exchange. Again there are many advantages to using text to communicate. Text messages can be quick, simple, and answered at the receivers convenience, whether it be 1 hour 1 day or 1 week. Many people will say they feel like they have to drop everything to use a phone, or how they just don’t have that much to say if they call. I am not hating on SMS or facebook chat. I am just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to going over the limit each month.
However, with Skype and iChat growing at exponential rates, and the advantages of face to face conversations and vocal communication I would not be surprised if texting becomes “so 2005”
“Call you? That’s so 1990.”
In this day and age so many of us have come to rely on text as the dominant form of communication in many of our relationships. E-mails, Facebook chats, and SMSs vastly out number phone calls made or videos sent. Text is a great way to communicate information such as instructions, meeting times, and news stories, and Facebook and E-mail have given people the ability to stay connected and maintain friendships even after many years and over many miles. However, a word of caution, I believe text can be just as harmful as helpful in some cases. While information is rarely misunderstood, tone, feeling and most of all sarcasm rarely make it past the screen. We have all heard the expression “It’s not what you said. Its how you said it.” And while there are some variations in how one uses the word O.K. (“okay, kay, k, kk”) we have to ask, is that really enough information to go off during this 3 or 4 hour text conversation. And while some times it is more convenient to use text, for example when your working or in class, other times people will go out of their way to use text messaging and avoid phone calls, for example when driving. Long emails and hour texting conversations could be communicate much more quickly over the phone and give much more information about how the person. Tone of voice and direct dialogue are two key factors of communication left out by text conversations. From personal experience I think we can all remember a time where a text message was taken the wrong way by a friend and had a negative outcome. I also believe people are much more likely to say things without thinking about them, even though they are writing and typing them, than they would be if they we talking to the person directly. Phones and the invitation of video conference sites like Skype and ooVoo should not even have to compete with SMS as the medium for information exchange. Again there are many advantages to using text to communicate. Text messages can be quick, simple, and answered at the receivers convenience, whether it be 1 hour 1 day or 1 week. Many people will say they feel like they have to drop everything to use a phone, or how they just don’t have that much to say if they call. I am not hating on SMS or facebook chat. I am just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to going over the limit each month.
However, with Skype and iChat growing at exponential rates, and the advantages of face to face conversations and vocal communication I would not be surprised if texting becomes “so 2005”
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