# Texting: A vehicle for conversation or for delivery of information **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907 "2011-04-19T01:03:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MareIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/1 "2011-04-19T01:03:56Z")
I am not a huge fan of text messaging for the purposes of conversation. For me they are a way to deliver information uni-directionally with the only reply being “ok” or my preference “k”. Recently, I’ve encountered several people who seem to think that texting me “what’s up?” is a conversation opener. I didn’t think I was completely out of touch, just slightly 🆒 However, then I read this advice column and am now think that maybe I am really the last person under 50 who doesn’t communicate solely by text message. [http://askabouncerandablonde.com/he-refuses-to-talk-to-me-on-the-phone-and-just-sends-texts-instead/](http://askabouncerandablonde.com/he-refuses-to-talk-to-me-on-the-phone-and-just-sends-texts-instead/) BTW, I HATE talking on the phone, so it isn’t like I am pining for my phone to ring. If you want to communicate via the written word, what is wrong with email or IM (which comes with a full sized keyboard)? ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/2 "2011-04-19T01:09:38Z")
Because sometimes I’m just killing time while I’m out and about, not at home on my computer. I want to converse with a friend or family member, but I don’t know if they’re busy or otherwise occupied, so I just flick them a text. There’s no pressure for them to attend to it right away like a phone call, and if they get back to me then we can have a short conversation both of us in our own time. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/3 "2011-04-19T01:18:58Z")
I am, at this very moment, having a full on conversation with a man via text message the subject of which has varied from favorite pizza to opinions re: physician assisted suicide to who we would rather catch us masturbating, mother or father (that’s a personality quiz question). I love text. While I’ve been having this conversation I have cooked and eaten a meal, fed a baby, gone shopping, and had simultaneous real life conversations with other people (and now I’ve posted to a message board) all of which are either extremely complicated or downright impossible when having a phone conversation. I only chose the “text for most things” option is because… actually, I don’t know why. I should have picked the first option, really. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/4 "2011-04-19T02:23:16Z")
I picked the third option, but I wish you had included an Other option. I also find texting to be very convenient when I’m at work, or really any public place where you want to convey information without other people overhearing you. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/5 "2011-04-19T02:28:23Z")
I don’t want to have to put on my reading glasses just to have a frickin conversation. If you want to talk to me, TALK to me. And get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/6 "2011-04-19T02:37:17Z")
I resisted texting for the longest time, then suddenly one day it just clicked in my little brain: this is a great way to communicate without having to talk to people! Now I use it all the time. I actually like talking to people - I do it all the time, but for some reason I hate making phone calls! Texting fixes that problem. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/7 "2011-04-19T05:48:23Z")
I don’t even know how to send a text message. And I rarely receive them. Which is a good thing – on my cell phone plan, they cost 20 cents apiece. Not that I talk on my cell phone all that much either. I make maybe one call a day. Having said that, I discovered something interesting on one of my trips. On the Tokyo public transit systems, talking on cell phones is not allowed. But texting is fine. So pretty much everybody on the whole train car is hunched over their phone texting some conversation for the entire length of their rides. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/8 "2011-04-19T12:59:32Z")
Texting, for me, started out as a way to keep up with what my four teenagers were doing. As has already been mentioned, you can have snips of conversation while doing other things, since you don’t have to tend to it right away. Also, if someone were in class or at work, the text wouldn’t get them in trouble like a ringing phone would. One of the best things about text messages is, you can go back and re-read them. No more forgetting what he/she said! That’s very valuable when you’re trying to keep up with a family of six. I’m not nearly as good a typist on the phone as I am on a real keyboard, so I’m probably not going to have long drawn out conversations via text. However, all of the kids are and I think my son in particular communicates via text more than any other method. It’s just another way to communicate, and I am a big fan of texting. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@The\_Real\_Regency\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Real_Regency_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/9 "2011-04-19T13:41:36Z")
I texted a lot when I was in college, because either I or the sender/recipient could have been in class, or a lab, or studying at almost any given time. It was also good for arranging meetup times when I was out at noisy, crowded bars where regular phone conversations would have been difficult. Now that I’m married, more of a homebody and work 9-5 with a desk phone, I have found texting to be obsolete for me personally. Like **suranyi** , I don’t even have a text plan for my phone. Recently my husband and I have been spending time with his bandmate and his bandmate’s girlfriend. I gave the girlfriend my cell number, unaware that she uses texting for every situation, including times when - IMHO- it would have been better to call or send a Facebook message. I had to finally let her know that I didn’t have a text plan and asked her to call me instead. Haven’t heard from her since. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/10 "2011-04-19T13:41:45Z")
I picked the 2nd option, but somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd is more accurate. I don’t actually text, but some close friends do almost nothing but. Some send and receive e-mails from their phones, so that’s close enough to call it texting. I use e-mail for most of my communications, but it appears to others as though I’m texting. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/11 "2011-04-19T13:45:05Z")
I hate talking on the phone. I hate texting, but ever so slightly less than i hate talking on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/12 "2011-04-19T15:04:22Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I’m not nearly as good a typist on the phone as I am on a real keyboard … This is what stops me. I still have a vintage 2004 phone that requires one to press a number key multiple times to type letters. No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/13 "2011-04-19T15:09:47Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > this is what stops me. I still have a vintage 2004 phone that requires one to press a number key multiple times to type letters. No thanks. 555666555! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/14 "2011-04-19T15:25:53Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This is what stops me. I still have a vintage 2004 phone that requires one to press a number key multiple times to type letters. No thanks. [T9](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T9_%28predictive_text%29) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/15 "2011-04-19T15:28:22Z")
I’m not a fan of texting for more than casual transfers of information under most circumstances. That said, when we were first dating, my wife & I used to make a game of exchanging incredibly filthy texts. The entire point was to see how charged we could make 150-word messages, each trying to top the last one the other had sent. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/16 "2011-04-19T17:06:05Z")
I prefer to communicate by actually conversing, makes sure that you can’t misconstrue what the convo is about, but if all I need is an address, or something like that, text is fine - mainly because if I need an address, I may be driving and not able to write something down and all I need to do is look at the phone screen for the info. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/17 "2011-04-19T17:21:19Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This is what stops me. I still have a vintage 2004 phone that requires one to press a number key multiple times to type letters. No thanks. I’m awesome at that. I just got a new phone with a keyboard and it suuuuucks. My texts look awful. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/18 "2011-04-19T17:34:07Z")
I text with my children. Their classes and social life mean that they are frequently only available to talk during my working hours - we can have a casual conversation that takes days to complete but we’re staying in touch. My husband picks me up each night from the commuter station and I don’t always take the same bus or train home so I text him my arrival time when I leave the office. Other than that I tend to talk on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/19 "2011-04-19T17:41:37Z")
I picked the fourth option, but I don’t really feel that. I just have an old phone, too, and it is very hard to text on it, so I never bother. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907/20 "2011-04-19T17:53:45Z")
I just had to change my plan to unlimited texting because I sent/received so many texts last month that I paid $120 for texts over and above my 1,000-text limit. I was so clueless I didn’t realize that I was paying for incoming texts as well as outgoing texts. I hate talking on the phone except for brief conversations, such as “What time do you want to meet”? or “What dish are you bringing to the potluck?” I sort of hate texting, too–I hate pushing all those little buttons–but it beats talking on the phone because as several people mentioned above, I love to multitask. I can text while grading papers, surfing the internet, cleaning, watching TV–it’s the ultimate multitasking tool. My favorite mode of communication, though, is face-to-face communication. That’s the best. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texting-a-vehicle-for-conversation-or-for-delivery-of-information/578907.md?page=2)