This article probably sparked with a conversation that I had with my dad. I told him I don’t really like talking on the phone (while I was talking to him on the phone). I’m definitely more of a texter and he couldn’t really fathom why. He just said that I was different.

People use text messaging for a variety of purposes. They say that 90% of people say things they say in text that they would never say in person. With the help of a screen, people are shielded away from emotion. This allows a texter to be more forthright. There’s a bit more honesty when it comes to texting. This can work in good and bad ways.

People are able to say what they want to say through text because there’s a division from reality. It allows us to say things we’d be too anxious to say in person. This makes practices like therapy more efficient if doctors decide to take patients over text as an option. Texting also allows people to read the emotions and reactions to certain events in real time. The alternative would be to call, or to meet up to tell another person what has happened, instead of what’s happening. In result, people tend to be more vulnerable through text than speaking.

With the good comes some bad. People use texting in detrimental ways such as bullying or unsolicited sexting. Sometimes people use texting as a way to display passive aggressiveness. I’m pretty sure everyone has sent an angry text. The crazy part of using text for evil is that we have a chance to look over our words before we send them. This is impossible through the impulse yelling of verbal communication.

So why do I text? It’s probably the former. I get to say what I want to say without the judgement of being in front of a person and seeing their facial response. I get to be more vulnerable and say what’s on my heart with minimal consequence. It’s the way I interact with everyone, except my dad. I’m sure we’d have better conversations through text.