Heres something interesting as a followup to our concept for this class: Not only are older adults using text messaging more, but a survey from Opinion Research Corp. found that text messages are quicker: kids typically respond to a text message within a minute. The survey found that not only are users under the age of 30 more likely to answer a text sooner than voicemail, but also adults 30 and older are more likely to respond to a text in a few minutes rather than a voice message.
A few thoughts... as text messaging of lots of teens can approach and exceed 1,000 texts per month and minutes are limited to 450-600 per month are we now implying that speaking and verbal person to person communication are going to fall behind?
What is it about this kind of immediacy that might lead to some out of the box thinking about the propensity to use these types of devices for communication?
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This study actually doesn't surprise me. I find myself texting much more as well. First of all, it's faster. I just hit reply on my phone and off I go, rather than having to dial voicemail, listen to the message, find and dial the number to call back and then call. Secondly, it's really the only way I can communicate with my husband during the day since he is a teacher and I can't just call him in the middle of a lesson. But your question was about immediacy. Why is it so important today? I think in large part, it is because our lives are so much busier today. We do many more things, we squeeze minutes out of every day, we don't sleep as much. So, any amount of time that can be saved using these new devices that are always on, always with us, saves time for something else.
ReplyDeleteI got my first cell phone when I got my first car. It was for emergencies. But then I got a job that required traveling to multiple offices so it became easier to reach me by cell phone - just one number for people to remember. Then I got a pager and I was carrying around 2 devices. My pager was invaluable on 9/11 when I escaped from Tower 2 - at least while it still received signal. After that, I traded in my 2 devices for a smartphone, a critical tool for me to do business with since I was now officeless. And, I've been addicted ever since. You just can't go back. And I think that's the answer to your question. Students today can't go back to not text messaging. It just doesn't make any sense. So, adults in their lives are being forced to adapt & adopt these new technologies and methods of communication.
Strange, but Firefox wasn't letting me post a comment - at least on my laptop. Just wasted 45 minutes thinking I was posting comments that weren't posting!! Will have to check my settings. Seems to work in Safari though.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I notice at work that students are increasingly receiving texts from parents in class. Makes for awkward moments when I have to confiscate a cell phone because they are replying to a parent's text during class.
I am terrible at texting and often leave my cell phone off for 2-3 days. My students don't get this at all. I like to have some control over my availability. It may spring in part from the musician's need for "alone" time. There are times I feel like I need to be "unreachable". The person I do text with the most is my nephew. Having a full keypad, he is much faster than I am. Given my phone's limitations, I am more inclined to call and leave a message than to text. I am VERY slow. Perhaps this will change when I get a new phone. I certainly agree with the study in this regard - I will be looking at texting capabilities.
My sister, who is 51, does not have a facebook account, and doesn't know what Twitter is, yet tends to send texts to me that read more like "status updates". They are brief, provide a description of what she is up to and why it may be of interest to me. However, there is no indication she is looking for a reply. In fact, she has indicated that she doesn't expect a reply. She is doing something that makes her think of me and wants to touch base without necessarily engaging in phone conversation. Maybe she should look into Twitter.
The article does not surprise me at all. I remember when cell phones first started getting very popular and thinking that it was weird and "dorky" that my 15 year old friend's mother was sending him text messages. In my mind text messages were for kids, younger people and they were mostly used to say things one would feel awkward saying out loud (like asking someone out etc).
ReplyDeleteNow, I use texts to ask friends school-related questions, to notify my parents where I am, to confirm appointments and meeting times and to express my feelings about something. Therefore, it is only logical that older adults will find this immediate, little-effort medium, particularly easy. Part of why I prefer text messages is that I do not have to use my voice to express something. For example, if I am feeling tired and in a bad mood, I can easily write something like "I'm so excited about so and so", However, if I call, I have to actually show this in my voice. Or, if I don't know someone very well, it requires more effort to think of what to say, how to say it etc, as opposed to just typing letters. In terms of older adults, I find that my parents enjoy this type of communication because it allows them to feel part of my life without having a long phone call which is more of an overall update rather than a "this is what I'm up to now, just wanted to let you know".
I've always felt that the purpose of technology was to make our lives easier and more efficient.
ReplyDeleteInstead of calling twelve people individually to let them know the time has changed for a party, now we e-mail, tweet, text or whatever someone will come up with next.
For me, texts are mostly used to set up person to person meetings in which verbal/social skills are used so for me personally I use the technology to create more person to person meetings in a more efficient manner, not to avoid having to talk them or use verbal skills.
I thought the article was interesting especially since I'm just now really getting into texting. I think mostly because I'm slow and it's easier for me to leave a mesage via voice then trying to type on a tiny keyboard. I also find it funny that when I leave a message with my friends they always text me back the answer and because of the on slaught or new wave of texting I've had to conform to change and change my plan for texting for my cell company.
ReplyDeleteThe answer I think for the question about the immediacy is we are becoming a society of "right now" We want answers right away. Technology has also advanced to were we are able to have that immediacy.