Lets Talk About This

I have noticed that as a society, we treat our electronics as our prized possessions. This is true even for myself. The electronics that we possess, especially our cell phones, are constantly with us. Whether it be because they are usually the most expensive thing we have with us or because we need them to function, it is clear that our electronic devices have become some of our most prized possessions.

The electronic devices, specifically cell phones, have drastically changed the way we interact and communicate with those around.  A recent article in Time Tech analyzed this situation very closing. The article mentions that he telephone call is a dying institution. The number of text messages sent monthly in the U.S. exploded from 14 billion in 2000 to 188 billion in 2010, according to a Pew Institute survey.

http://techland.time.com/2012/08/16/we-never-talk-anymore-the-problem-with-text-messaging/

Americans ages 18-29 send and receive an average of nearly 88 text messages per day, compared to 17 phone calls. The numbers change as we get older, with the overall frequency of all communication declining, but even in the 65 and over group, daily texting still edges calling 4.7 to 3.8. In the TIME mobility poll, 32% of all respondents said they’d rather communicate by text than phone, even with people they know very well. This is truer still in the workplace, where communication is between colleagues who are often not friends at all. “No more trying to find time to call and chit-chat,” is how one poll respondent described the business appeal of texting over talking.

The problem, of course, is what’s lost when that chit-chat goes. Developmental psychologists studying the impact of texting worry especially about young people, not just because kids are such promiscuous users of the technology, but because their interpersonal skills, such as they are, have not yet fully formed.

I have noticed this problem of the loss of communication due to the increase of text messaging. I personally prefer to call and talk to someone over the phone rather than just communicate with them through text messaging. I find myself explaining and speaking more clearly though telephone conversations rather than messaging. It is also easier from me to listen and truly understand the person who I am talking with as I can listen to their words and tone of voice to gain a better understanding of what they are communicating to me. Text messaging does have some advantages put it cannot replace the experience of talking to someone over the phone.