# Why text? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644 "2012-07-08T22:56:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/61 "2012-07-10T19:14:27Z")
Emails are not an option for situations where you need an somewhat immediate response. Outside of work during working hours, you can’t expect someone to respond immediately to an email. I get hundreds of emails a day, only a handful of which are of which are personal corrospondence. I may do a quick glance at my email while I’m out and about, but I’m certainly not going to be closely reading each email as it comes in- I’d never get anything done. Emails get managed in the AM and PM when I have a good chunk of time to write thoughtful responses. Phone calls are fine, but are pretty demanding. You are basically asking whoever you are calling to drop what they are doing and give you their full attention for whatever amount of time. And that’s how you end up playing phone tag- people are busy, and it can be tough to find a time when two parties are both in a situation where they can be on the phone. Furthermore, it’s never okay to not return a phone call fairly quickly. With a text, if it’s not something earth shaking, it’s pefectly fine to take your time responding. It’s lower pressure. Texts also enable multi-tasking and privacy. I send a lot of texts from work, on the subway, while I’m eating at restaurants, standing in line, etc. These are situations where it isn’t really appropriate to yap away on the phone- nobody wants to know that I need you pick up tampons on the way home from work. You can also text while you get other stuff done. If I’m shoppng, for example, I can send a text before I go to the store, and wait till I get in line to read the reply. If I was on the phone, I’d probably have to stop what I was doing. Texts are also good for coordinating with various people. If I was trying to get a few friends together for happy hour, by phone there would be all kinds of back and forth while I figure out who is interested, where we should go, what time works, etc. With a text I can text my friends “Anyone interested in happy hour after work?” Then I might get five messages back along the lines of “Yeah, I can do after 6:00” and “That sounds fun, but it has to be downtown” and “I’m not drinking today, but could do coffee”. Then, rather than calling back and forth and things getting complicated, I can just put together what every else said and text out “Okay, Let’s meet downtown at 6:30 at the Coffee Bar.” Trying to manage everyone’s needs by phone would be a pain. I imagine most of the teens who are wracking up huge text are doing a lot of mass texting- sending the same thing to 10 or more people at once. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/62 "2012-07-10T19:24:35Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > There are a few styles of keyboard which are more enjoyable to type on than a default phone keypad, it just depends on your phone. Swype is pretty fast, once you’ve got the dictionary all trained up. MUCH faster than pressing a number 1-3 times for each letter. Or, you can get a full-on keyboard like a Blackberry has and be pretty fast with your thumbs. Part of the reason texting is so prominent is because, if you have a smartphone, it’s so _easy_. Ayup. My TracFone has a full keyboard, for heaven’s sakes - the phone itself is an LG. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/63 "2012-07-10T21:09:19Z")
I wonder how many people on this board have Asperger’s Syndrome… > [@Shakes](#): > > A lot of the women in my life like to call and talk to me right when I’m in the middle of a good book or watching one of my favorite shows. > > When texting, I can hold up my end of the conversation at my liesure. If it is at your leisure, then you aren’t holding up your end of the conversation. > [@Shakes](#): > > For example, I’m watching tv and my GF texts: > > GF: Hey what’s up > ME: [waits til a commercial comes on] Not much babe, what’s up with you? > > This goes back and forth for the next hour or so. > > GF: [She calls now because she wants to have an actual conversation] > Me: [Sends call directly to voice mail. Then I text her: I’m not taking calls right now. In the middle of Master Chef.] > GF: You’re such a douche. Your GF should DTMFA ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/64 "2012-07-11T01:41:01Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Horse pucky! …snip… > > So, why text instead of emailing? Because my email program is a PITA on my smart phone and slow to load whereas the texting interface is right up front, quickly accessible and easier to see. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/65 "2012-07-11T01:44:32Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I wonder how many people on this board have Asperger’s Syndrome… > > If it is at your leisure, then you aren’t holding up your end of the conversation. > > Your GF should DTMFA [Looks at join date] Nice try dude. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/66 "2012-07-11T01:52:18Z")
I’m hearing impaired. I can NOT use the telephone. Most of the population does not want to bother with using a relay operator so I can use a TTY. I literally thanked God when texting became commonplace, because it meant I could now have a cellphone and could keep in touch with friends and family. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/67 "2012-07-11T02:15:35Z")
I’m cracking up that at this late date there are still people who think text messages are limited to 140 characters. First off, that’s Twitter. Secondly, texts used to be limited to 160 char but it’s been like ten years since I’ve seen a phone that doesn’t know how to bridge texts to any length. Also, texts and email are pretty much exactly the same thing. Here’s a fun test for someone who has T-Mobile (every other carrier does the same thing but I don’t know their addresses–look it up yourself). Open your email application. Write anything. Put in [noparse] {your ten digit phone number}@tmomail.net[/noparse] as the address. Hit send. Marvel at the text message you get from yourself. Marvel, marvel, marvel. Yes, you can do this for anyone whose cell phone number you know. Also, if you’re typing an EMAIL on your keypad, how is that inherently so much more sophisticated than texting on that same keypad? How is this different? And who hates talking on the phone? Any poor fucker who spends eight hours a day with a headset on at the beck and call of any tard who can make it through the keypunches in the IVR system. The first thing I downloaded when I got my new Android phone was a call screener to keep people from calling me. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/68 "2012-07-11T03:48:05Z")
Sometimes SMS is best suited for a situation, sometimes calling is, and in some cases email can be useful. What it comes down to is who you are talking to, what method they like to use and when you’re being called/emailed/texted. Why people “HATE” the other methods is up to them. Just don’t expect me to have a data-filled back-and-forth conversation via text when it should have been expressed vocally. Others should do you the same courtesy when it comes to the opposite. Don’t call or voicemail when a simple short message gets the message across. The “generational thing” is real even if you can name fifty people that defy that generalization. People just need to adapt to other communication media when it’s more appropriate. I do think that email as it was originally is going to die out, as many people don’t use client based email nearly as much as they did, emails are usually formal style letters that are digitally delivered. Text and IM still seem informal to business types, but nothing communicates info as fast as they do. Every time someone uses an improper comm method, educate them, that’s all we can realistically hope for, at least for now. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/69 "2012-07-11T17:35:27Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > Knowing their cell phone numbers isn’t much better. But it is, because all that has to happen for me to know their cell is for them to call me trying to reach CairoSon - which is bound to happen eventually, when either my son gives them my phone number as a back-up way to reach him, or new friends who want to reach CairoSon start by getting my number from the school database (which includes parent cell phones but not students). Part of what is driving my participation in this thread is that we conduct so many social and practical transactions by SMS in Indonesia (where I live) that its astonishing to think that it’s weird to anyone else. We were all texting like mad here when people in the US didn’t even know what texting was, though. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/70 "2012-07-12T06:27:08Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > But it is, because all that has to happen for me to know their cell is for them to call me trying to reach CairoSon- which is bound to happen eventually, when either my son gives them my phone number as a back-up way to reach him, or new friends who want to reach CairoSon start by getting my number from the school database (which includes parent cell phones but not students). I assume “CairoSon” is your “clever” way of referring to your son. :rolleyes: > [@CairoCarol](#): > > Part of what is driving my participation in this thread is that we conduct so many social and practical transactions by SMS in Indonesia (where I live) that its astonishing to think that it’s weird to anyone else. We were all texting like mad here when people in the US didn’t even know what texting was, though. That’s a good point. In other countries texting is much more ubiquitous that it is here. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/71 "2012-07-12T07:01:16Z")
Also, an advantage that texting has over a phone call - and a reason to use it even for more detailed conversations, if you’re in public - is that it’s much more discreet. How many times have you been standing in line behind someone who is fighting with their SO, and you’re forced to hear half the conversation when you REALLY don’t want to? Or heard about the gory details of someone’s night out, or their tonail fungus, or something else that you would give anything to bleach out of your brain? Or you’ve needed to tell your spouse that the balance in the bank account is low, but you don’t necessarily want the person in the next cubicle over to hear it? Texting can allow people to have conversations at a similar time-lapse to talking, but without having to inflict it on everyone around them. It’s a godsend that way, and I definitely believe that I’ve overheard fewer stories about Junior’s poops since texting got popular than I used to. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/72 "2012-07-12T07:34:24Z")
> [@Arabella\_Flynn](#): > > I also have a terrible time parsing speech over the phone. This may be a personal quirk. It’s not hearing loss; I pass tests just fine, and don’t have trouble with speech in person. I’ve had so many problems understanding people over VoIP or the phone that I had my hearing checked. Eventually it turned out that, in every case in which I was able to check it, they do things like talk to the phone with their ear… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/73 "2012-07-12T09:50:17Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I assume “CairoSon” is your “clever” way of referring to your son. :rolleyes: You must be new here. This has become a very common way to refer to the kids and the spouse amongst many Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/74 "2012-07-12T10:35:32Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You must be new here. This has become a very common way to refer to the kids and the spouse amongst many Dopers. Yeah he is. It’s the poster previously confused as **even seven**. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/75 "2012-07-12T10:37:30Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I assume “CairoSon” is your “clever” way of referring to your son. :rolleyes: Like **GuanoLad** says, such formulations are common on the SDMB. It makes for smoother writing than tiresomely repeating “my child” or “my husband/wife”, while not requiring that the writer divulge real-life details such as actual names or go through the trouble to invent and explain a pseudonym. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/76 "2012-07-12T13:55:23Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > I assume “CairoSon” is your “clever” way of referring to your son. :rolleyes: It’s better than the “DS” you see on lots of other boards. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/77 "2012-07-13T23:43:29Z")
I text rather than phone because my mother gets hysterical if she hears me talking to someone that isn’t her. This isn’t because of her dementia, she’s Narcissistic and everything has to be about her, so why would I be talking to someone else?! Many years ago she interrupted me when I was on the phone to the Carer’s Association wanting to know [loudly] who I was talking to, to the point where I had to end the call early because I couldn’t keep up a conversation with the other person. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/78 "2012-07-14T02:09:56Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > [snip]People just need to adapt to other communication media when it’s more appropriate. > [snip] > > Every time someone uses an improper comm method, educate them, that’s all we can realistically hope for, at least for now. I’m actually trying to figure out how to tactfully nudge an older family member into texting. This guy is frequently in a place in the woods where he has very spotty cell reception for up to a week at a time - while he’s there he has to purposefully go to a location up on a hill where he can get reception just to check his voicemail, then spend 20 minutes listening to said voicemail all before he can decide if he needs to call anyone back or (horrors!) drive to town to get wifi and check email. He’s not “off the grid” on purpose mind you - he does like to stay in touch with work and family the whole time, but it’s a pain to do so. When I’m there, I end up getting texts all along - sometimes an hour or two after they were sent but eventually the wind shifts or whatever and they push through. It’s great for getting important info quickly, without having to do the reception dance multiple times a day. This came in real handy a few years back when there was a family emergency while we were both out in the woods - we were reachable almost immediately because a text to me got through when voicemail notification didn’t. Based on this, I really think he should take the plunge and enable SMS on his phone, even just to receive and never send. He can certainly afford the charges, if there even are any on his plan - how can I convince him without seeming pushy or like a know-it-all? Maybe I just need to lay it all out for him as I have above, huh? ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/79 "2012-07-15T02:20:20Z")
I text for many of the reasons already given. I don’t enjoy talking on the phone and avoid doing so if I can. I can text my friend to let her know that my bus is running late, knowing that she’ll receive the text where she may not be able to hear the phone ringing while she’s on the train. My son is at the beach, surfing every waking hour that he’s not working, so trying to call him by phone would be a wasted effort but he will - eventually - receive a text I’ve sent. I’ve seen these sorts of questions posed before and I can’t understand why so many people seem to ‘hate’, or at least not understand, texting. If you hate it, don’t do it, by all means but its usefulness isn’t all that hard to fathom. And I’m an old fogey, so I disagree with the ‘generational’ thing as well. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644/80 "2012-07-15T05:35:16Z")
> [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](#): > > Based on this, I really think he should take the plunge and enable SMS on his phone, even just to receive and never send. He can certainly afford the charges, if there even are any on his plan - how can I convince him without seeming pushy or like a know-it-all? Maybe I just need to lay it all out for him as I have above, huh? Enabling SMS is probably the least he can do to stay in touch, and installing a repeater or signal strength intensifier is the most. I’m not saying this is needed for everyone, but it’s often better than being out of touch. If one of his loved ones was clinging to life after a tragedy, I’m sure he’d prefer to know while he has the chance to see them one last time, rather than the alternative. YMMV [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-text/627644.md?page=5)