Random Ramblings Of A BlogAholic » Texting

Hey, We Really Need To Talk!

Bryan — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 02:36:11 +0000

Wikipedia defines Communication as; a process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. All forms of communication require a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, however the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender’s intent to communicate at the time of communication in order for the act of communication to occur.

Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, through media, i.e., pictures, graphics and sound, and writing.

I guess what they’re tryin’ to say is that no matter what, it takes a minimum of two people, regardless of whether they are present or not, to make the communication work. That sounds simple enough. But that’s where you’d be wrong.

I think it’s the part where the other person need not be present that messes things up. Back in the ol’ days, the person that you were attempting to communicate with pretty much had to be right there next to you in order to hear and to even hope to understand what it was you were trying to say.

Still no guarantees as languages and speech were not perfect sciences at that point. Back then, hand gestures played a huge part in communicating your message to another person. That and a good swift yank of the hair.

As time went on, things got a bit better as more languages evolved and it was generally frowned upon to pull a females hair. That’s not to say that fights no longer broke out over something that was mistakenly said but for the most part, Tribes pretty much had a basic language they worked with and it was up to you to learn it. If not, it could definitely cost you dearly.

But again, for the most part, you pretty much had to be within hearing distance of whomever you were trying to communicate with. I’d have to think that if yelling hadn’t been invented yet, this just might have been when it first became popular.

Writing has basically been around since the Caveman days, hammering one rock with another rock to create stories of sorts in an effort to communicate but here again, I have to wonder just how much got lost in the translation. Hmmm, is that an elephant or a deer? Perhaps a dog? Maybe a horse?

I think you get my point. Communication still left a lot to be desired. But as alphabets began to flourish, languages became much more polished. That’s not to say they were by any means perfected but more often that not, guidelines were set in place allowing a bit more structure and a little less room for self interpretation.

As people began to migrate all over the world, they tended to take their language with them. Which was fine, as long as you just stayed with your own group but once you tried to communicate with another tribe, you were just plain screwed. Major language barrier. Which also meant quite a few arguments ensued.

Finally, at least in the U.S., one single language began to take hold and it was either you learned how to speak, read and write it or you were quickly left behind. Yes, you could get by with just speaking the language alone but if you couldn’t read and write, your future was extremely limited.

Luckily the telegraph was invented as that would allow you to communicate with others that were a very large distance away. Same with letters being delivered by the Steam Driven Locomotives and the Pony Express, two other great ways to reach out and touch someone.

We as humans have always had an inherent need, a desire to stay connected and being able to sit down by candlelight, dipping your feather in an ink well, chronicalling all of your thoughts and sending them off to the wide open spaces, knowing there was a pretty good chance that they would actually arrive at there intended destination had to be a huge breakthrough.

But none of these can even come close to the invention of the telephone. Oh no, THAT was the breakthrough of that Century. For the first time, you were able to communicate with someone in real time, from thousands of miles away. No more wondering if they could hear you or understand you, instant feedback.

Speaking of feedback, it kinda makes you wonder who the first person was to ever get the phone slammed down on him. I say him because I have a feeling that it was a woman hangin’ up on a guy because of something he said….or didn’t say. I’m just guessin’ here….

Fast forward quite a few years and while the phone has gotten smaller and quite a bit more mobile, you’d still have to think it’s the preferred form of communication. Besides being there in person, of course.

But thanks(?) to all of the new technology available, we now have various other ways to stay in contact. Whether it be through Email, Text Messaging, Instant Messaging, all of those have opened up so many more avenues for communication in todays modern world. Or have they?

It seems as if instead of opening up all of these new avenues of communication, all they’ve done is replace actual communication with cybersmoke blowing. While the phone couldn’t replace actually being there in person, it was the next best thing.

I say was because it seems to have been replaced by these other means of so called communication. A few clicks here, push another button there and whoooosh, off goes your message. Off to who knows where. Will it reach it’s intended target? Well, that’s anybodys guess. And worst of all, nobody seems to care whether it does or not.

Emails, in some instances, can be monitored to allow the sender to know if the recipient has actually opened it, read it and responded to it. Not bad for Cyberspace technology.

Texting on the other hand has that let it fly kinda feelin’, sending your message off to who knows where and hoping it reaches its intended destination. And if you do eventually get a reply (that makes any sense) then consider yourself lucky.

Instant Messaging has both its good and its bad points. It resembles texting on the Big Screen. If both communicators happen to have Web Cams, then at least they can hope to see a bit of a facial expression here and there. However they also better be equally adept at typing as this isn’t a sport for the non nimble fingered or the textually challenged.

Oh no, this can be a super hectic, fast paced nightmare come to life. Similar to a game of tennis between a fresh Rookie and a seasoned Pro, no doubt somebody is gonna get hit in the balls….. ooops, I mean hit WITH a ball.

I don’t agree with those that think these cyber replacements can come anywhere close to the communication that can be had from just a simple phone call. Sure, on the phone it can sometimes be difficult to read emotions but as long as you throw in a bit of laughter here ‘n there, for the most part you should be ok.

But I don’t care what anybody says, there just isn’t any substitute for actually being there with the person you’re communicating with. Having a face to face, one on one conversation with your sweetheart, having her say “I Love You” in real life, just can’t be beat.

So until the day comes that they invent a computer or even a phone for that matter tells me it loves me, all while kissing me on the lips, I’m gonna stick with the ol’ fashioned way.

If you can relate to a need for good communication in a relationship of any kind, I’d like to hear about it and if you enjoyed this post, I’d appreciate it if you’d share it with your friends.

IM vs TEXTING: Which Is Worse?

Bryan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:22:08 +0000

Jeez, is it just me or does Instant Messenger suck just as much as Texting does? Or do they both suck equally, just different size screens? I don’t know about you but the frustration level between what I’m trying to say and what is actually coming out on the screen can be brutal. Those that read my earlier post on texting pretty much have a good idea about my thoughts on texting. While it does have its place, you just can’t have a relationship of any substance, let alone with zero emotion, through texting. Quick snippets here and there are fine but an actual conversation, no way.

It’s beginning to appear that IM is more or less the same thing, only with a larger screen. Now, I have to admit that I am lagging rather badly in my typing skills and with that being said, I’m more than willing to admit that this negative attitude toward IM’ing could clearly be due to my lack of skills. I find myself constantly having to type as fast as possible, smoke coming off of both of my fingertips, all in an effort to keep up with a question that was asked four or five lines ago. By the time I finish semi proofreading and look up at the screen, just before I hit ‘enter’, my response is no where near where it should be in relation to everything that’s on the screen.

So here again, do you quickly delete this response before you even send it or do you at least respond to the question that was asked many sentences ago? Oh, the angst that fills my body is excruciating. I don’t want it to appear that I’m not listening or heaven forbid, not participating in this cyber conversation but the confusion just seems to mount as time goes on.

Then it’s the dreaded “HUH?” Huh, what? you ask yourself. As you scroll up you see that the other person could be referring to so many things and you have no idea which one of these questions was left unanswered. Are you ignoring me now? Are you mad? Nooooooooooo, I’m not ignoring you and I’m not mad! Why would you think that? I’m typing as fast as I can!!! All the confusion begins and then it’s a rollercoaster from hell, barely hangin’ on the tracks by two wheels, one more tight curve and we’re airborne with the ground comin’ up awfully fast!

How could all this have even happened.? The conversation started off so well. I’m soooo happy to hear from you. Ohhhh, me toooo! But then how on earth did it turn in to a tennis match, and one so uneven at that. Like a game between David Letterman and Venus Williams, someone’s gonna lose and I seriously doubt it’s gonna be Venus.

Perhaps there needs to be a written exam before you can even download IM to your computer? Some kind of an IM License needs to be issued, at least of WPM test. Sure, it all seems like a great idea at the start. Direct connection, no waiting in between messages and best of all, no stupid 140 character limit to edit your thoughts. Yet, those are the aspects of IM that can take you down. Literally.

Here again, the discrepency between the two IMers has so much to do with how well the conversation will go. While the skill levels can never be exactly the same, the rules must be set forth in the beginning regarding the speed of the reply, the spelling errors, lack of punctuation, etc. in order to keep the doors of understanding wide open. If not, all hell is gonna break loose. It’s only a matter of time.

So I for one, admittedly lacking in IM skills, will be the first to admit that I might [most likely am] be the cause of most of this confusion. As such I would ask for a bit of compassion, maybe even a little extra understanding for my plight. While I’m doing my best to get and stay caught up with the conversation, I truly am going as fast as my two fingers can type. Please take that in to consideration before you get upset and wonder why the hell I would say whatever the hell it is I said in such a way that I said whatever it was that I said. OK?

The technology of today has created so many incredible ways of communicating, all meant to enhance our lives but we all must keep in mind that some of us are further along in this learning curve than others and therefore a bit more leeway is needed in various situations. And so with that, I will give both of my fingers a break for now. That way I’m fresh and ready to go the next time I see that flashing orange box, letting me know the race is on!

TEXTING SUCKS!

Bryan — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:48:08 +0000

What ever happened to having an actual face to face conversation? Remember, the kind of thing where you can actually hear the other persons voice? Whether on the phone or in person, a true interaction between two or more people, where thoughts and ideas can be exchanged. Where emotions can be put forth, both good and bad, which could actually lead to a further understanding of each persons thoughts and feelings.

Texting isn’t even a decent excuse for a conversation. Not by a long shot. Five or six words back and forth and to make matters even worse, most of those are ‘half words’, ‘textonics’, just a bunch of stupid abbreviations that add up to a complete desecration of the english language. Come to think of it, a massacre of ANY language.

All of this supposedly in the interest of saving time? Well, if you’re anywhere near as ‘textually challenged’ as myself, it takes five times as long to attempt to spell your thoughts out in a text than it ever would have taken to just come right out and say it. And without any ‘emotion’ to go along with your words, it’s just a guessing game as to what the ‘sender’ was even attempting to say. Not to mention the fact that by the time I’m ready to send my reply, three more texts have come through and so the response that took me ten minutes to get typed and ready to send is no longer even relevant. If I hit send at this point, the usual response is ‘WTF?’. Even worse is when a call comes in at the same time and then you’re totally screwed! Complete loss of all contact, screen ‘flips over’ to something else entirely and then you have to start all over.

Of course, all this leads to a full on battle. “Oh no, that’s not at all what I meant. Scroll back up about five or six lines and you’ll see that this is the answer to THAT question.” All that BS that gets completely out of control, out of nowhere. It’s no friggin’ wonder the divorce rate is so high in this country. Nobody can understand what the heck anybody is trying to say and with all the misunderstandings and the hurt feelings along the way, it’s easier to just get a divorce than it would be to go through any more texting ‘crap’.

Instead of ‘tennis elbow’, we will start to see all of our hospital emergency rooms filled with people suffering from ‘texting thumbs’, our insurance rates will skyrocket, taxes will be raised to cover all of the people out of work on disability and we will be living in a society where no one even speaks to one another. Now, some might think this would be a ‘dream come true’, but not me. I myself miss the ‘good ol’ days’ of sitting down and actually having a face to face conversation, especially with a beautiful woman.

Call me ‘old fashioned’ and ‘out of touch’, that’s fine but until I can actually ‘feel’ a hug and a kiss thru my iPhone or ‘see’ the look in a womans eyes on my QWERTY keyboard when she says “I Love You”, I’ll take a ‘real’ conversation any time! Until then, I’ll continue to believe that TEXTING SUCKS!