“Whts ^? Wnt 2 go 2 *$ l8r? 4COL I had lng day. Lmk ttyl.” Have any idea what this means? For those of you who are too ‘out of it’ and ‘not cool enough’ to know what this means, get with the times. It clearly means “Whats up? Want to go to Starbucks later? For crying out loud I had a long day. Let me know, talk to you later.” People, teens mostly, can spend the time to make up these acronyms for words in text messages, but they won’t answer the phone when you call?

According to a recent survey from Neilson, the average teen (13-19 year-olds) send over 3,339 texts per month. This would be more than 6 texts per hour; a solid 8% increase from the previous year. At the same time calling has decreased by 14% in the same age group.
On the weekend, I often find myself texting my friends trying to make plans. As the night creeps closer, I get bored of texting and having our plans go nowhere, so I decide its time to call and get plans made. I confidently take out my phone and call my friend ready to get this interminable task done. It rings once, twice, five times, eight times. Voicemail. Not cool. I know that they have their phone because they were just texting me seconds before. Shortly after calling, I receive a message: “Did you call?” OBVIOUSLY. I’ll then call them again, and still NO ANSWER. Why you ask? Because “they were in the car” or “their parents were in the room with them.” Sure. I can understand this once in a while but not ever time I call. The real reason is because they are socially awkward and haven’t developed enough social skill to actually talk.

The biggest complaints people give about talking on the phone is that is takes too long, or is too intrusive. But, the fact is, you can get what is accomplished in thirty back-and-forth text messages in a three-minute conversation. Talking forces people to have immediate responses and eliminates the time to linger. You also don’t have to spend time trying to invent new acronyms. And, if you actually are in the presence of an elder, it is much less intrusive to take a three minute phone call than to constantly be taking out your phone. And, if you’re with a friend and trying to make plans, it is much more polite to leave the room and take a quick call rather than being on your phone the whole time you are with your other friend. Plus, it doesn’t make them feel as awkward seeing you constantly checking your phone. If you do feel it is too awkward to talk on the phone, then how are we supposed to spend the night together hanging out? It would get ‘awkward’ after five minutes of being together. Calling teaches those awkward people how to interact in the real world rather than just hide behind a keyboard.

One more scary problem that can arise from texting is you don’t always know who is on the other end. I’ve heard many instances where a friend texted their friend and told them something personal only to find out later that it wasn’t really their friend they were telling it to. It was the loudmouth guy that their friend was hanging out with. And then later at school your ‘secret business’ becomes everyone’ business.

Clearly, the world has chosen texting over calling, and there are many problems that come with this new form of communication. There is an easy solution to this large social crisis. Instead of ignoring your friends call, answer it.! Your life will be a whole lot easier if you just answered. Plus, you would be much better at socializing and be able to spend more time with your friend than wasting it texting. My point has been given and now I need to g2g but I will ttyl!


"U.S. Teen Mobile Report: Calling Yesterday, Texting Today, Using Apps Tomorrow." N.p., 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.