Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Fear and Loathing of Texting

Hi all! You may have noticed I changed the layout of this blog. What do you think? Is it difficult to read? The right-hand column may be. At any rate, it was time for a change. Kind of like when you would rearrange your bedroom when you were a kid. Your thoughts are appreciated.

And now onto the real subject matter at hand: texting. I have a love-hate relationship with texting. I'm not a phone chatter at all, unless it is my mom/dad or my grandma. Outside of that, I thank the technology gods for the ability to text, because I'm sure as hell much more likely to do that then to call you back. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. It is straight to the point, and gets things done. I also have a record of it all in writing! If you told me you'd meet me at 6, and you are late. Guess what! I whip out my phone and show you the text you sent me, which is sure to send you running off with your tail between your legs. Really, I'm not that mean.

However, there are times when texting is completely lame, inappropriate, or just plain boring. For instance: I tend to be fairly free with my cell number. This is a bad idea. Why? Because within a week, you are bound to receive a text message from an unrecognizable number that will say something like, "Hi." Or "Whats up" with no question mark or apostrophe. Sorry, but if I get a message from you that says "Hi," you aren't getting a response back. Period. That's a rediculous waste of resources and time. Likewise, I'm not going to have a full-out conversation with you via text message. Texting should only be used to get something done/planned, or find something out; at least in my book.

The second rediculous text tactic is to send out mass mailings. These can be in one of two forms. The first being the "Happy Thanksgiving" text that someone has no doubt sent to their entire contacts list. Boy, I really feel special after getting one of those for (insert holiday). The second form of mass mailing is the kind which looks like a forwarded email. They usually read something like this: "I was supposed to send this to all of my hot friends, but I only have ugly friends, so I'm sending it to you!" HAHA. Wait, was that supposed to be funny? If you send this to me, I will probably just delete you from my contacts list. That'll teach you.

My final beef with texting is punctuation and grammar. I know it's just a text message, but this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Don't send me something that says, "Hey r u gonna 4get about ur good friend" The answer to that question will be YES if you forget/don't know your grammar and spelling skills. Plus, how do I even know it's a question if there's no QUESTION MARK at the end of it? Janet Jackson, as well as several other artists have picked up on this format in naming their songs lately. And I don't like it one bit.

If anyone else has good tactics to thwart this bad texting behavior, I'd love to hear them.

4 comments:

Subway Gal said...

A few things . . .

1. I'm not sure I like the new layout, but that's probably because I don't really like change. I don't do well with it. But this new layout will grow on me soon enough.

2. Totally with you on texting instead of talking, unless it's family. I'd rather send you a text or two to convey my message effectively instead of wasting my time on the phone with you for at least 15 minutes, 13 of which is filled with idle chitchat neither person cares about. However, I don't appreciate texting when it's used as chitchat, like when my sister calls me from class and wants to know what I'm doing (working) and what's new (nothing. I'm on a deadline!) and tell me about her day. I'm busy! Get to the point or don't bother texting - just call! At least this way I could be doing work while talking to you.

3. Not a big fan of the mass "Happy Whatever Holiday!" texts. It's unecessary and annoying. I especially love when I get these texts, as I did this past holiday, from "friends" I haven't spoken to in years.

Ok, I think that's all I got.

Abe said...

Thanks for the input, Subway Gal! It seems we feel the same about texting...and I also hate wading through all of the pleasantries to get to the real point of texting. It's definitely normally a 13/15 ratio.

Kimberly said...

HA - I so agree on the mass holiday greeting texts. The worst is when you get them from folks who were in your phone years ago and now aren't. Who the crap is this person anyway?

Red from Ktown said...

I completely agree with you on the punctuation thing. Although, in the text's defense, certain cell packages limit texts to 150 characters or less. You'd be surprised on how quickly that is used up. I'm a grammar nazi, so I understand though why you'd be mad. I don't do the text thing much, but it is fun receiving them when I do.