When I got my first phone sophomore year of high school, texting was what I lived for. I remember constantly checking my phone for a text and being excited to send one back. It was the coolest thing ever to hold a conversation via text message. Now a days however, it’s annoying as hell.
Now, texting isn’t always horrible. I have two friends that I only stop communicating with when I’m sleeping and texting is usually the way to go since we talk throughout the entire day. Texting is also great when you need to communicate something at a time you’re unable to talk on the phone, like during a work meeting or in a loud place.
Although texting is useful, it’s safe to say it is overused. I don’t understand why it’s become so difficult to hold the phone up to your ear and talk voice to voice like we did back in 2001. We used to be able to call the boys we had crushes on, so why now is it so difficult to call close friends and family members?
1. It is so impersonal. It amazes me how much time goes by in between hearing people’s voices. Most people in my life live far away and I rarely see them in person, but that only makes me want to talk to them more. Texting is convenient but is it that difficult to give me a call now and then?
2. It takes forever. You know how long it takes for me to have a text conversation with you about how my weekend was? Too long. Call me, and we can have this conversation within an hour, and you’ll get more from me talking than you will from me giving myself carpal tunnel and having to completely stop what I’m doing to read what you said, think of a response, and type back. We might as well just become pen pals.
3. It’s easy to forget about. I’m sorry, but if I’m busy at work and see a text from you, I will probably open it to clear the notification and then forget all about it. And other people do it to me, too. So much for “communication”.
4. “Hey, what’s up?” Go away.
5. It has changed how we communicate with each other. People are more fearful of each other these days. Before texting and Facebook, it seemed like people were able to talk about stuff easier and were more social. These days everyone just wants to hide behind a screen rather than interact face to face.
6. It is easier to ignore someone. I’m not saying I’m not guilty. However, it’s not good for character. This ability is what has instilled the fear of communication our society has developed.
7. Dating is completely different/dysfunctional. Instead of actually going on real dates (you know, those things old people did when you go to dinner and talk to a person) to get to know each other, now you can just text a person. And sadly, we’ve accepted this behavior to be romantic. It’s also easy to just drop someone as soon as you get bored with them and never have to talk to them again. This is so common we’ve created a word for it – ghosting.
8. We miss out on real life. Texting is great because it allows almost instant communication back and forth. With this territory comes distractions and we miss out on life because we are too busy with our noses glued to the screens of our phones.
9. People expect you to always be available. It’s easier for people to harass you. Maybe sometimes I like to spend my day off resting in bed and watching TV without my phone going off every 30 minutes, but I don’t always get that, and sadly that makes me refer back to #6 to keep my sanity.
10. It messes with your head. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve sat there distraught because a guy didn’t text me back for a whole 45 minutes. Or when someone doesn’t give you a response you were expecting.
Hashtag over it.
