What is texting good for?

[the first supraliminal]

I've never texted and I asked them not to set up my phone to receive them. I don't know anyone who would text something. I guess it's for shy school kids, kids passing notes in class, and for when you run out of minutes. (When I was in school I hung on the phone for hours. Before cellphones, local calls were free. )

Anybody adult find a use for texting?

[DianaG]

Texting is perfect for "I'll be home at 9ish", "Don't forget to pick up milk", and "Hey, plan changed, we're gonna meet at this place instead".

It's not for lengthy conversations, but it's ideal for imparting information, and less intrusive than a phone call.

[An Gadaí]

Also if you don't particularly feel like talking to the person.

[Ferret Herder]

We've had a number of threads in IMHO about this, but I screwed up my search and am not going to wait for it to recycle, so I'll just repeat the common one: "It's like sending a short E-mail when you are unable to use the voice feature of a cellphone or the person on the other end would like a written version rather than voice."

Examples:
* My husband has little opportunity to talk on the cellphone at work, and my cellphone gets crappy service at my desk, but can occasionally connect long enough to retrieve or send a text. A text lets us notify each other of problems or ask about after-work plans.
* My coworker called my work line on her cellphone, got my voicemail, and left a message about needing a phone number E-mailed to her private E-mail address. The signal dipped right as she was reading off her address to me and it was not understandable. I texted her the number instead, so she would have it and wouldn't have to worry about reception causing problems.

[Sigmagirl]

My husband once made it home from a business trip just in time to play in a concert he had scheduled. I had my cell set to vibrate, and sure enough it went off in the concert -- his mother was calling me. I texted her that he was back and on stage. (I knew she had tried him first.)

I alleviated her worry, got her to stop calling his cell while he was playing, avoided having to step over people to leave the auditorium to make a call, and dodged a call from my mother-in-law. Voilà.

[Markxxx]

It's used a lot in libraries where you aren't supposed to talk on phones. It's also good for when you're in the lockerroom. You can pretend your texting while you're really taking photos of naked people

[cruel butterfly]

Originally Posted by the first supraliminal

I've never texted and I asked them not to set up my phone to receive them. I don't know anyone who would text something. I guess it's for shy school kids, kids passing notes in class, and for when you run out of minutes. (When I was in school I hung on the phone for hours. Before cellphones, local calls were free. )

Anybody adult find a use for texting?

It's the only way I talk to my college-age stepdaughter. We both have unlimited texting on our respective cell plans, and we're both lightning fast at it. We can have conversations using text faster than we can actually talk.

[filling_pages]

Originally Posted by the first supraliminal

Anybody adult find a use for texting?

- making quick plans with a small group. I can group text a handful of people something like "Meeting at my house at 7" and not have to have 6 conversations to do that.
- sending info that should be written down - phone numbers, street addresses - to someone who may not have a pen on them
- quick contact with an out of town girlfriend/boyfriend - just, "Miss you" - when you know neither of you have time to talk but felt like touching base
- receiving info in loud situations where talking is impractical. "We're at St. Pat's Pub, not the Black Cat Room" or whatever.

and so on.

[Caffeine.addict]

When I want to tell someone something very quickly without having to have a conversation.

[PaperBlob]

It's a good way for us and our son to communicate with each other during the school day. He can't have a phone conversation in class, but he can unobtrusively look at the text I sent him to remind him to do something at school. He has also texted us to ask us to bring him something he forgot to take with him that day.

Sometimes it's the only way to communicate with him in other situations where you would normally just call. He doesn't always answer our calls, but he always texts us back. He rarely uses his phone for "voice" - it's almost all texting with him.

[Geek Mecha]

I text people when it's not practical for me to make a call, or when what I have to say is time-sensitive, but not urgent or significant enough to warrant a call. The number of minutes I've used calling has never been a factor.

The last text I sent was to my out-of-state ex, who claims to not be interested in taking my calls or emails, to tell him I was canceling his cell phone service. That's one conversation I'm glad to not have had to have. I also texted the guy I've been seeing on the day I knew he'd be out driving for 5 hours solely for a one-line whine about work. It wasn't worth a phone call, and I didn't want to distract him while he was on the road, but I really wanted to vent.

[silenus]

My debate students text me all the time. Not while in rounds, but to let me know how they did, ask when postings are going to be up, to find out if there's a lunch break, etc. Very handy.

[ZipperJJ]

Texting is like sending a telegram. Short, sweet, and reaches your party wherever they may be. It's no-nonsense, no-frills and more efficient than a telephone call.

Just because kids are the ones that use it the most doesn't mean it's a kid thing. They're just the ones who are most open to doing it while a lot of adults have some of weird mental block for the idea of texting.

I think it's fan-fucking-tastic!

[Rigamarole]

Texting is fun for the whole family.

[Noone Special]

All of the above are good answers, plus sometimes a short text: "May I call you on such-and-such a matter?" is a polite way of asking whether the other party will take a call (if they're not close friends, it's an awkward hour, or, for whatever reason, you're not sure they'd want their phone *ringing* just then.)

[Maeglin]

It's fantastic while on the subway. Occasionally I get enough cell signal for a few moments to receive a text. It can be very handy if plans are just coming together or need to be changed. I also have a nice window to send texts when I know hte train will be above ground for a stop or two.

[rekkah]

My husband and I both work slightly variable hours, and commute via crowded trains. The people I'm pressed uncomfortably into on a jam-packed train do not need to know I caught the six o'clock and will stop off to get milk on the way home, but my husband does. If he's working late due to an emergency he doesn't want to stop to chat to me, but it's useful for me to know so I can hold dinner for him or eat without him if he'll be very late.

Likewise if I'm running late to meet friends for dinner, I can let them know without them having to talk on the phone.

It's also useful for wishing good luck to a friend you know has an interview today - you don't want to interrupt their preparation, but you can let them know you have your fingers crossed.

[suranyi]

I've noticed that people on the subways and trains in Tokyo are not allowed to talk on their cell phones (it's some kind of ordinance), so instead they text constantly.

[Sunspace]

As others have said, texting is great for rendezvouing. Last week I was to meet my date at Restaurant A, but when I got there, it was gone! I texted her the news and suggested meeting somewhere else. She was on the subway and it was too noisy to talk or listen well on the phone (and that annoys the people around the talker as well). Then later, in Restaurant B, I texted another friend to say where we were, so that he could meet us briefly and return some of my stuff.

[The Librarian]

I hear deaf people love it.

[Manda JO]

Remember, too, that many people work in situations where they do not have ready access to email: I think in some way hard-core techies were/are resistant to texting because they and everyone they know is at the computer all day, and might as well email. For people who are not, texting serves that purpose.

[DMark]

Not being one who texts, but teaching in college where everyone texts, I finally got an answer that made 100% perfect sense from one of my students:

"You have a chance to think before you answer - if someone asks on the phone if you want to go out to a bar tonight, you have to answer fairly quickly. But if they text you, can think it over - if you don't want to go out at all, or you don't want to go to a bar, or if you just don't want to go out with them."

[Savannah]

Ooh, good one, DMark. I used to prefer, when on call for emergencies, to get a page over a phone call for the same reason: two minutes to think is nice.

I'm not huge text-er, but it is great for sending a grocery list to someone at the store, where he probably doesn't have a pen and notepad. Our texts are thrilling:

bread
white milk
sandwich meat
baby carrots
tea
bagels

...yep, it's a wild ride at Chez Savannah.

[sharding]

Originally Posted by AudreyK

or when what I have to say is time-sensitive, but not urgent or significant enough to warrant a call.

This is the main thing for me. A text is usually seen immediately (unlike email), wherever the person might be (unlike IM) yet doesn't demand an immediate response if the person is busy or wants to think (unlike a phone call). IMHO it's the best of both worlds for many messages.

Also, it necessarily keeps the communication short and to the point (relatively). If I call someone (especially someone I don't call often), sometimes it feels like there's a need for smalltalk or "catching up" before getting to the point. With a text message, you're always right to the point, no pressure to chat about unrelated stuff.

[Gatopescado]

All you damn kids! Get off my lawn!

[Cisco]

I hate talking on the phone. Especially to people who listen to the radio, watch tv, or drive with their windows down while talking to me, or just mumble or don't hold the phone anywhere near their mouth.

*mmmbggubba bogga bogga gubba*

Me: Can you say that again please?

*MMMBGUBBA BOGGA BOGGA GUBBA*

Me: Huh?

*$%^&* ^&* ^&*() &^$#&*) *()&

Me: Fucking text me. *click*

[Snnipe 70E]

I used it heavily last month.

I was volunteering at a music festable, I was one of the team leaders. With texting I did not have to worry about hearing what was being said on the phone. And I could send out one text message out to more than one person at the same time.

[Candyman74]

The world's changed; everyone is communication 24/7 via various different methods. Our kids won't understand the concept of not being so any more than we can grasp what it would be like to have to send handwritten letters by sea in order to communicate.

Texts are for asking a quick question or passing information when (a) an immediate reply is not important; and (b) when a whole conversation is not desired or appropriate (which, given the 24/7 contact we have, is a perfectly accceptable social norm these days, and not rude).

It'll get worse, trust me (well, not "worse" but more like this than it currently is).

In exchange for the ability to contact people at any time anywhere in the world, the social contract nowadays offers the text as a non-intrusive "talk to me now!" method of quick communication. It's a fairly inevitable and necessary evolution.

I gather that those in the US use texts a lot less than, say, Europe. But I think we have to accept that, globally, the very way we communicate is evolving through use of rapid communication devices, social networking websites and applications, and so on. Juts like the way we communicate has evolved before and will continue to evolve in ways we can but imagine until the human race dies out.

[Cisco]

When I was in middle school in the early/mid 90s, having a pager got you suspended from school for 10 days.

When I was in high school in the mid/late 90s, having a cell phone or pager got you suspended for 3 days (though I don't think anyone had a cell phone)

When I was in community college in the early 2000s, having your cell phone go off got you scolded, and it got taken away if the instructor was a real Billy (or Betty) Badass.

In the mid-2000s, they gave you a dirty look and told you to turn the ringer off

Now I'm at university, and people openly text and surf the web on their laptops (whole campus is wifi), and the professors don't say shit.

What's it going to be like in 15 more years? Will the frats just move their previous nights' party into the classroom at 8am?

[Rhythmdvl]

So u cn lrn 2 spl

[Martini Enfield]

Oh goody, another "I hate technology and everyone who uses it" thread.

(Sorry, the first supraliminal, that may not have been the intention of your OP, but that's how these threads usually read)

Most of the other respondents have addressed the many benefits of text messaging, but I like the telegram analogy best- it's good for messages that have some urgency to the delivery, but not necessarily to the reply.

[Alessan]

It's also a way to nag without being too annoying. I don't know how many times I've sent an "Everything OK?" to someone running late.

[Mudshark]

I use it for quick notes when phoning isn't really approperiate. Or when I need to tell something to someone when I know they can't answer a phone, but they can read a text.

[EvilTOJ]

Drunk text > Drunk calls

Originally Posted by Cisco

When I was in middle school in the early/mid 90s, having a pager got you suspended from school for 10 days.

In my school the 'reasoning' behind the ban on pagers was that only pimps and drug dealers carried them.

[divemaster]

Originally Posted by Martini Enfield

Oh goody, another "I hate technology and everyone who uses it" thread.

(Sorry, the first supraliminal, that may not have been the intention of your OP, but that's how these threads usually read)

Most of the other respondents have addressed the many benefits of text messaging, but I like the telegram analogy best- it's good for messages that have some urgency to the delivery, but not necessarily to the reply.

I didn't get that from the OP, nor do I see it anywhere in the 30 posts before you posted. Even if someone does chime in with a counterexample (I don't text--don't see the need, etc.) that doesn't mean the thread is now a "I hate technology and everyone who uses it" gripefest.

[flodnak]

It's like silent voice mail. I can send a message to my 15-year-old son, who isn't supposed to use his cell phone at school (how closely this rule is followed is another question....) and know he can get it at lunch or after school. And when he gets the chance he can text me back, without the potential teenage embarrassment of having to talk to his mom in front of his friends, and I can get to the message when I have a moment at work. Similarly, I can text my husband, and no matter what's going on at work (meeting, fixing a client's problem, up to his elbows in a crisis, in a noisy machine room, or whatever) I know it won't disturb him or those around him. He'll get to it when he has a good opportunity, and I can get to his answer when I have a good opportunity. And as others have mentioned, some kinds of information work better in writing, like times or phone numbers when you want to be sure you don't misunderstand.

Come to think of it I've never set up voice mail. If it's important, text me!

[Duckster]

What is texting good for?

Excessive revenue for telecommunications companies.

[ToeJam]

My last text sent 3 mins ago:
"Let me know when you get out of class and when's the movie?"

It's good for when you have a question or something quick and you don't want to waste a conversation w/ a person.
And yes- "we" HOH/Deaf people do like it.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by Duckster

What is texting good for?

Excessive revenue for telecommunications companies.

Not at all. I use maybe 60 minutes a month of talktime on my mobile, but a couple of hundred texts, which are essentially free.

As others have said, why would you bother to actually call somebody just to say "I'll be home at 6" or "Meet at the Royal Oak at 7.30", when you can text it in a few seconds?

Anyway, IMO at least, texts have pretty much replaced email, not phone calls. I rarely email friends any more - I tend to text instead. It's quicker, and I know they'll get the message there and then, rather than next time they check their mail.

[Sigmagirl]

We got audited last year and finally got a resolution. My husband had business meetings all day and I knew he couldn't be interrupted for anything other than a catastrophe, but I knew he would want to know. So I texted him:

IRS: OK!

What better use?

[suranyi]

I can definitely see the advantage of texting, but I still don't do it, simply because my fingers aren't dextrous enough to work the buttons on the phone fast enough.

[sandra_nz]

I'm a Pay as You Go user and texting is cheaper than making calls.

Texts I send are usually reminders, (don't forget the milk on the way home), or I'm letting someone know where I'm at (leaving work now), that kind of thing.

[NinjaChick]

Originally Posted by Alessan

It's also a way to nag without being too annoying. I don't know how many times I've sent an "Everything OK?" to someone running late.

The sent messages folder on my phone is full of things like, "we're @ big booth in back when u get here" and "movie starts @ 10 not 10:30 right?" - a gentle means of asking where the hell someone is. It has the added bonus of not being as distracting as a call if someone's in their car en route; a text will happily wait until that long red light.

[Rhythmdvl]

Absolutely nothing!

Say it again y'all...

[Mangetout]

For imparting information when the recipient needs the detail, but may not be in a position to write it down (i.e. "Here's Jim's phone number" or "Jill's address: 23a Somewhere road - it's the one with the red door")

For communicating when the message is brief, relatively non-urgent and or it is not appropriate to interrupt the recipient.

For those times when you need to say something, but don't want to be drawn into a spoken conversation.

I concede, however, that the majority of text messages actually sent may not fall into any of these categories and may instead be trivial teenage girl fluff with no real content.

[Uncommon Sense]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

For imparting information when the recipient needs the detail, but may not be in a position to write it down (i.e. "Here's Jim's phone number" or "Jill's address: 23a Somewhere road - it's the one with the red door")

For communicating when the message is brief, relatively non-urgent and or it is not appropriate to interrupt the recipient.

For those times when you need to say something, but don't want to be drawn into a spoken conversation.

Right.
Like if you're shopping with your wife and you need to tell your girlfriend that you'll be late. Just shoot a quick text. If your wife asks what you're doing you tell her that you just caught a straight-flush on the river while playing the poker game that came installed on the phone. Act surprised, how often do you see a straight flush?
Or, if you want to get the last word in an argument, you can text your SO and then turn off your phone. They love it!

See, texting has many uses.

I kid, I kid!

[Cisco]

Originally Posted by EvilTOJ

In my school the 'reasoning' behind the ban on pagers was that only pimps and drug dealers carried them.

At my school they said only doctors and drug dealers use pagers, and none of you are doctors.

[cruel butterfly]

Originally Posted by Duckster

What is texting good for?

Excessive revenue for telecommunications companies.

I don't know about that. My unlimited text plan is only $5 a month extra. Without unlimited, I'd run over $5 worth in one day (incoming messages are free while outgoing messages cost ten cents a piece). Now, I can send 1500 messages a month if I like and still only pay $5.

[Harriet the Spry]

Originally Posted by Colophon

Anyway, IMO at least, texts have pretty much replaced email, not phone calls. I rarely email friends any more - I tend to text instead. It's quicker, and I know they'll get the message there and then, rather than next time they check their mail.

It seems like this might swing the other way now that mobile email is becoming more accessible, though. The only time I really like to get a text is when my husband is traveling, to let me know his plane landed OK. I don't usually want my phone ringing, because I may be in a meeting or driving. But now that he has a Blackberry and I have an iPhone, we just email.

[trupa]

Now if you text iphone to iphone, you can send a google map with address indicated!

Talk about saying we're HERE.

Also, picture messaging can be handy: Is THIS the part you need?