What's so great about text messaging?

Question

Or "texting", for short.

I just don't understand why people have long conversations through texting when they could say what they wanted to say 10 times faster if they just called the person!

It makes sense if you just want a quick answer to something, but it's almost never used in that way.



idk, my bff jill

Okay, I see that it is less formal and that if the other person is busy, you can just quickly leave a message for them to respond at their convenience. That makes sense to me. It's the whole conversation thing that still doesn't make sense.

Answer 1

I gave my daughter a new cell phone last year and it included text messaging. Without asking me, she assumed that her plan had unlimited text messaging. She then proceeded to rack up over 1800 text messages in a month. When I told her about the $350 cell phone bill for the month caused by so many text messages, she almost fell over. She couldn't believe that she had sent so many messages.

That's when I did the math for her: She gets charged for outgoing and incoming messages. So, it's probably more like 900 messages that she sent. Divide that by 30 days in a month, and that's about 30 messages a day. And, the way they send little inane messages back and forth ("how r u?" "wut u doin?" that kind of nonsense), they can add up pretty fast.

I asked her why she does text messaging instead of phone calls, because the calls are so much cheaper (x-amount of minutes included in monthly plan). She said that she doesn't like calling on the phone, she likes sending a message that lets her friends return at their leisure. Then, once a message gets returned, she starts having a text conversation..

I guess it's like people who are addicted to e-mail. Some people can't go more than 5 minutes without checking their e-mail on their CrackBerrys or laptop.

BTW - I made my daughter detail my car to pay for the cell bill. I then increased our plan to include 2500 free text messages. It cost an additional $15 a month. And, it's worth every penny.

Answer 2

I was wondering the same thing. I rather talk on the phone. So i asked my Friends what's so great. And they said because in school you can just text in class when the teachers not looking. Some also said that they get free texting, but not free minutes. But what i noticed here, is that most of them are just trying to show off how fast they can write a message.

Answer 3

You get charged a minute when talking anyways, texting can cost less, especially when you're on the right plan. Or the may not be in the appropriate place for a phone call (in the theatre, at work...).

Answer 4

I usually text because it gets to the point. When i talk to someone on the phone the conversation usually drifts off to a different topic. When i text i just ask them the question and they answer so it doesn't waste time and it gets to the point.

Answer 5

I text when I don't feel like talking I feel a person will understand you more through a text. If you talking to someone they might not be listening but if you text it's like they have to read it. Another reason i text is because they don't allow cell phone usage at my job. Texting is very sneaky.

Answer 6

It's because they feel very lazy of clikcing 7 numbers or scrollin' thru their address book for the number. Students of all kinds like to text for answers to test. Hence why cellphone use during class is banned. Cheating and distractions. I personally loathe texting. It also causes death due to distraction. Ouch.

Answer 7

I like to text to tell somebody something without having a long conversation

Answer 8

It's fun and easy to communicate with out the person who you're texting with knowing what's going on in the background or letting them know your mood that day.

Answer 9

texting is like instant messaging at a computer. It allows you to talk to more than one person at a time, and if you get good at it, you can communicate quickly to more than just one person.

Answer 10

It's cheaper to text message than to place a call.