texting

I think Carr is right about one thing for certain. If the internet is not the most popular medium by far I think the second runner up is definitely awarded to texting. It’s sad I was thinking today that I don’t even know what my best friend’s or boyfriend’s handwriting looks like by however I know exactly what emotion cons they will use. I know how long it takes them to reply to my message but sometimes I forget my best friend is a lefty to me is sad. When I was a kid I thought it was the coolest thing to analyze our handwriting to find out what it says about us, our personalities and such but now handwriting is being replaced by times new roman font and texts. It used to be such a personal thing even added a touch of intimacy when someone would send another person a handwritten letter. Today there are books filled with just letters from famous authors and poets today that they had written to people they had loved and cared about. Reading their letters takes me into another mindset entirely. I love to text but I think texting takes emotion out of communication. Smiley faces help but words get misconstrued and misinterpreted. A simple short phrase can turn into an argument. I think because it’s so flat almost cold. It’s a quick way to communicate I love it but sometimes I miss the sound of my boyfriends or mothers voice. It’s soothing almost. Texting has become so popular now that there are books and manuals about proper texting edict. What about just simple books on tact and communication? Everyone has become taken over to the dark side of texting. Although it’s always more fun on the dark side it will soon have its consequences. Doctors even admit that they could not survive without their blackberry or should I say crackberry? I think the texting world has made us immune and almost forget how to talk to people in a mannerly way. Texting is flatter because we are not seeing the person face to face. Things are easier when there appears to be no one but your phone. Somehow we seem to forget before we press send that those words are getting sent to people. Actual people we love and care for. Texting surrounds us and encompasses us in our daily lives. Who hasn’t done it at school or at the dinner table or in the middle of a conversation or even on a date? We hurry to respond to the person at the end of the line like second nation that we almost forget that we are disrespecting the person in the very room we are communicating with. Texting won’t go away until the next great medium comes out. I won’t stop using it for sure and probably neither will you. I just feel we should just be more mindful and be more in the moment with the person we are with because giving a person your attention and your time is one of the greatest gifts of all.      

Kelsey Coughlin