Stop the Texting People...

OMG! MBFF doesn't think so.

You are old-fashioned and I am too. To hell with text messages!

Text messages are awful. However, women born after 1985 communicate obsessively through texts. Voicemail will go unanswered, texts will be replied to in minutes. They are a necessary evil when dealing with the opposite sex.

Not only that, but I resent that cell phone companies charge ridiculous sums (20-30 cents, are you kidding?) on per use texting, forcing you into their higher tier service plans.

The one good thing I will say about texting is that it's great for a booty call.

Fixed.

As for the booty call thing, I need to talk to my wife about that...sounds fun.

I can't explain it but texting can be a lot more convenient that calling. I enjoy it

And to think, you have to pay to be able to text message.

And talking on the phone is free?

The prevalence of texting is one thing I really like about China. I can't stand the fact that with a mobile phone, one can be disturbed with a call at any moment. If I don't pick up, the person often calls three or four times, so there is just no escape from having my train of thought disrupted. Add into this that after not long, not picking up can be interpreted as rudeness. Texts offer some time to respond and to collect your thoughts and don't completely intrude on whatever one is doing at the time. I wish that when people called me, they heard "please text if at all possible, you might be destroying my afternoon by calling" instead of a ring. Of course, the best is MSN and other instant messaging services on the internet. I wish we didn't even have to have mobiles or phones at all.

I really dislike the demand for immediate answers implicit in calling. That someone can put me on the spot at any moment and concurrently get an emotional read on me is very disconcerting. With texts, I don't have to immediately put on the voice of affability, professionalism, or whatever other fakeness is required in order to suit the caller.

Granted it can be less efficient, but I think that at the least it is courteous to send a text before calling a person, unless the caller and called are on the most intimate of terms. Texting almost compensates for the evil of mobile phones.

No, but you have to pay an additional subscription charge. I used to think it was included along with the initial charge, but apparently not. I refuse to type on a phone.

that comment about China is right...it seems people (ESPECIALLY girls) over here only communicate via text messaging...phone calls often feel awkward, especially if both parties are in a public place and have to speak up due to high population density/general noise of the streets. the thing i hate most is sending a text and not getting a response until like 7 hours later.

Yes, when people do talk on the phone in public, it can be extremely irritating. The general din of the city makes people raise their voices even more when talking. It seems almost every time I take the subway, there is some pighead businessman from the provinces yelling into his phone about how much money he is spending that day. I don't mind nearly as much if there is a little girl next to me giggling and sending texts.

As for the delayed response comment, I am ambivalent. What I like about texts is that I don't have to respond at once, but at the same time it can be irritating when people leave me hanging. In general, I'm pretty forgiving of laziness and dilatoriness, in a world so obsessed with speed and productivity.

We all want to be old-fashioned if possible, but does using mobiles but not liking texts really qualify?

Yesterday I had a class with staged seating, and the girl in front of me texted for 1:30 hrs straight. She had one of those phones with the slide out keypad.