Spring Break
Alex McElroy VS: Texting: great way to talk or distracting?
Alex McElroy
Issue date: 5/21/09 Section: Forum
Hey, still on the fence about texting? Well I've got one good reason why you should change your mind: everyone is doing it! That might not sound so compelling, but isn't that why you started watching "The Office" and "Going Green" in the first place, because it was the cool thing to do? So why not?
Our contemporary society needs texting; it's a form of communication rooted in its near-lack of communication. We've become a very cold people, so it makes sense that our preferred interaction should be limited to 160 characters. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that we text; actually, just the opposite. It's an inevitable step in the growth of our culture.
Whether or not you think that's a good thing doesn't matter, because it's what's happening. Staying connected will soon be synonymous with popularity and life span ("You didn't get my text about the antidote?"). Texting is a simple, quick way of keeping in touch with everyone who has a cell phone. Even your parents have cell phones.
Tired of those long, boring conversations about what you ate for dinner and which classes are hardest, or how you're the only one of your friends who never drinks beyond his limit because you were raised so well? Text them! A 30-minute conversation can be whittled down to just 140 characters (less if the 'rents know thumb dialect).
But what else can texting do for you? Ever been stuck in a class where a professor drones on about God-knows-what, but all you want to know is if Taylor and you still have plans for next Tuesday? Pull out your phone, hold it beside your thigh or beneath the desk (where it's invisible to the instructor) and message away.
Remember back in elementary school when you needed to tell that kid two seats back what you were thinking right away? What did you do? You scribbled on some lined paper, folded it into a football and trusted the middleman to deliver with care.
Texting is the same thing, but now there's no need for shared classrooms and notebook paper. We need quick snippets of communication from whomever, wherever to make us feel interconnected.
Our contemporary society needs texting; it's a form of communication rooted in its near-lack of communication. We've become a very cold people, so it makes sense that our preferred interaction should be limited to 160 characters. I'm not saying it's a bad thing that we text; actually, just the opposite. It's an inevitable step in the growth of our culture.
Whether or not you think that's a good thing doesn't matter, because it's what's happening. Staying connected will soon be synonymous with popularity and life span ("You didn't get my text about the antidote?"). Texting is a simple, quick way of keeping in touch with everyone who has a cell phone. Even your parents have cell phones.
Tired of those long, boring conversations about what you ate for dinner and which classes are hardest, or how you're the only one of your friends who never drinks beyond his limit because you were raised so well? Text them! A 30-minute conversation can be whittled down to just 140 characters (less if the 'rents know thumb dialect).
But what else can texting do for you? Ever been stuck in a class where a professor drones on about God-knows-what, but all you want to know is if Taylor and you still have plans for next Tuesday? Pull out your phone, hold it beside your thigh or beneath the desk (where it's invisible to the instructor) and message away.
Remember back in elementary school when you needed to tell that kid two seats back what you were thinking right away? What did you do? You scribbled on some lined paper, folded it into a football and trusted the middleman to deliver with care.
Texting is the same thing, but now there's no need for shared classrooms and notebook paper. We need quick snippets of communication from whomever, wherever to make us feel interconnected.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Eric Gleske
posted 5/21/09 @ 4:54 PM PST
If Alex McElroy, your pro-texting author, had framed a more cogent argument than "everyone is doing it," in 160 characters, I might have been swayed. Oh, well. (Continued…)
portland movers
posted 5/22/09 @ 5:59 AM PST
I don't think "everyone's doing it" is a good argument for making any decisions. There are a lot of bad things that "everyone is doing" and that doesn't mean you should too. (Continued…)
Will Overhead '33
posted 5/24/09 @ 12:16 AM PST
My bakelite bruiser, built back in the day when you could stand on the phone if you needed that extra reach to the upper bookshelves; the one that rings a real bell inside, and still has the "Property of Bell System" sticker on the bottom from past times when part of your phone bill included the non-optional handset rental fee; the one with a rotary device on the front we use to place a call, from which we get the phrase "dial a number," the one I can't "Press 1 for options" (or any other number); well, kiddo, here's a news flash for ya on the old clackety-clack teletype machine: my phone doesn't receive text messages, unless the sender picks up their phone and reads the text into the mouthpiece so I can hear it in my earpiece. (Continued…)
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