Texting: convenient but ambiguous

Cell phones and electronic conversations have become a major part of people’s daily lives. While this way of communication can be beneficial in many situations due to the speed, there are certain conversations that must be left for the old fashion way of speaking; face-to-face.

Teens often struggle with this since they basically grew up with this luxury. Adults also struggle with us with emailing, these forms of communication provide a mask for the speaker. Hiding behind the typed words are a tone of voice, an emotion, and body language that cannot be expressed. It’s easy to see how this could cause a lot of problems and miscommunications. Therefore, there needs to be a universal understanding of what is acceptable to talk about with typed, empty words and what must be spoken about in person.

All kids hear from their parents when a conversation like this comes up is “well, we didn’t have cell phones when I was growing up so we had to talk on the phone or speak in person.” Honestly, wouldn’t most relationship problems and miscommunications go away if we had to go back to that? Yes, phone calls still lack the body language aspect but at least you can hear the other person’s tone of voice.

97% of all communication is nonverbal. Facial expressions and body language are so important! Surely everyone has found themselves in a situation where this has proved to be true. A situation over text can often be seen completely different once spoken face-to-face. I find that many people feel more powerful to say the things they are scared to say in person because of the mask that instant messaging provides.

I even find myself wanting so badly to just text a person something rude or call someone out over text, but thats just not acceptable. Things that are acceptable to talk about over text: making plans, shift coverage, wishing happy birthday/congratulations (but cards are still nice too), quick impersonal questions, etc. Now, inappropriate texting conversations: breaking up with someone, calling someone out, or anything that can cause conflict.

Ippolito may be reached at [email protected]