I like to text. I also don't mind talking on the phone. However, I find that it is easier to text someone than call them. When I text someone it's usually to ask a question or set up plans. I have been known to text as a means of covertly communicating. But a phone call is more drawn out. It requires more patience, which I sometimes lack. But a simple text can get the job done much faster. For example, I'll text my mom a question and I''l get a phone call from her. She'll answer my question, sure, but then she'll continue to go on and on about random things that she did that day. I mean, she could have just answered my text. It would've been easier for both of us. Don't get me wrong, I like talking to my mother on the phone, but if I ask a question that usually means I'm working on something related to that and probably don't have enough time to have a full conversation. And I do call people just for conversation. I like conversing with people on the phone.
Phone calls, for me, are for when you want to socialize and are willing to commit time to socializing. A girl named Audrey, the girl mentioned in Sherry Turkle's piece on "boundness", claims that when we text, we aren't bound to the conversation. We can just not respond and walk away. This is true. A concversation through text does not requirethe same level of commitment that a phone call requires. A phone call requires our undivided attention. When on the phone, the speaker expects us to be actively listening and wants us to respond accordingly, similar to a face-to-face conversation. Texting doesn't require us to answer right away, even though we hope that the person does. That's a strange irony, isn't it? That a conversation that requires no commitment is the one that we want instant gratification from and that the conversation that requires commitment, provides instant gratification.
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