Why I am not a Texter

Yesterday, my friend, Sandy referenced an article on text messaging monsters and I admit, I am not a texter. I am somewhat of an unresponder, though when I do respond I apologise for the delay. I will send a text now and then, if I am in a meeting or especially if I am abroad because roaming is not cheap. But I am not one of those people who set their phone in their sights, waiting to hear that tell-tale alert, or to see it vibrate, so they can...POUNCE on it - knowing it's a reply from a friend or colleague. In the same vein, I am not much of a BBMer. Sure, it's free but I cannot lock down my life to a mobile phone and some people really do it. You check their status updates and they change it everyday and their photos change everyday. It is their form of expression and self representation, sure, but my God!

So my friends don't send me texts because I am not a good responder to them, nor to BBMs. I am often on the road when I do have that valuable "phone/bonding time", so this is another reason I am not married to my phone's keypad. While talking on the phone while driving is dangerous as it is, what can be more hazardous than keypad punching and driving? I have tweeted while driving but it's usually in slow moving traffic (which is like every afternoon...hello?)

Don't get me wrong though. I am not a text hater. I do understand that the text or BBM may be urgent or maybe you have no credit or you're in a meeting and cannot call so you can only send a text or IM. So I will respond. But when you want to sit wherever you are, bored or obsessed, and want to hold an entire conversation about the state of your love life or the state of the world, via this channel, well...I am not interested. I have, on many occasions, once recognising that this is the road I am  being dragged down, just ended the text-a-thon and called the person. It's easier, it's more convenient for me and less annoying.

And I am guessing that there are other people who feel the same way. The above was just my personal take on text messaging as communication, but there are some very real issues around the keypad obsession.

For instance, a local union is now debating the resignation of one of its executive members. While the contents of the correspondence have not been divulged and I am not sure what was sent, at the centre of the argument is a text message.

The text message has made information readily accessible to persons, especially by way of B2C marketing. I regularly get updates from my mobile provider about new promotions and events, which I appreciate, once they don't start creeping across the thin line between useful information and spam. We have started using SMS to communicate with staff internally, sending updates on important issues and leading them back to the intranet or to an email, which as you know, tends to get lost in the daily maelstrom.

However, some people also believe that texting and now BBMing are ruining the way we communicate with others. We prefer to text rather than call. Our lingo and language have been impacted by the abbreviations which come with short messaging. Common courtesies seem to have flown the coop with previously face-to-face "transactions" such as job terminations and  Dear John/Jill "letters" being completed via mobile phones. The same is being said of social media, but is it really impacting our relationships negatively? I will admit, I do prefer a phone call over a text message for casual conversation and I don't text birthday greetings to friends either, preferring to call close friends. But I believe it is how you use it and how much of it you allow to pervade your life. The technology can be used to sustain relationships and make relationships more accessible, regardless of geography for example. But it does not have to be all consuming and that is just my overarching statement when it comes to any type of technology or new media. The control still resides with us as individuals.

So don't hate me cause I am not a keypad ninja! Are you though? Are you one of those text messaging monsters?

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Friday Peeve: The Black Elephant in the Room

Thanks to Guy #1 and Guy #2, you get this post. It's not a discourse, just an observation but stay tuned when we will have an awesome guest post from one of these gentlemen (you will just have to wait to see which one) about this phenomenon.

So last night I had the privilege at being at a very swanky function (which I almost never made it to but that story is from my lips to God's ears). Decor was gorgeous. Food, fantastic. The general ambience was amazing. Beautiful people, beautiful setting. Great performances. Great friends. Great moments. Except...

For the guy in front of me with the Blackberry who insisted on snapping everything that moved and those things that did  not move as well. I mean....REALLY???

And Lord help me, I was really close to taking out my own Blackberry and taking a photo of how stupid he looked but it seemed too stupid to even be ironic.

As with most of these types of events, the onus was on mingling and networking, in addition to being sold the creativity of talented people. So I would have expected this dude, like others, to be meeting people, commenting on how amazing the place looked, perhaps exchanging business cards, making some contacts. Nope. His aim in life was to take photos with this phone of his. It was as though noone else in the room existed unless you were the subject of the photo. What was most annoying was when the performance started and by this time, people had started to get loose and were having fun and shaking a little rump. Not my buddy, BlackBerry Avenger. He was snapping away. When his hand and his 6th finger aka the BB blocked my view of the great performance in front of me, that's when it became extremely personal.

I mean...why? I know I touched on this earlier this week - this phenomenon with technology, to the point that we lose sight of the things happening around us - but this guy was the poster child. He even took photos of the REAL photographers doing REAL photography. I am sure today his friends have in their Facebook feeds "Jack's night out - 100 new photos".

Pyscho!

I would hate to be a boss who sends my people to an event to network and instead of doing that they get lost in their BBs and miss the big picture. And there it is - missing the bigger picture. Relationships are under threat if these people attached to their smartphones are set to take over the world. Be it personal relationships - because the Avenger came with a significant other, who was forced to dance alone - or professional relationships. So while the technology strengthen social networks, it seems to, in some cases, adversely impact and denigrate relationships.

I also have a problem with the intrusiveness of camera phones. I  once caught a weird, pervy man trying to take a photo of me with his phone. He insisted he was not, that he was sending a text but one does not normally hold a phone like this...

to send a text message, do you?  He needed to read this.

It seems many people do not realise that their actions, besides being acutely annoying, also often can leave them on the periphery of human interaction. And while photography is an art I admire and wish I were more passionate about, it is now being cannibalised by people like BB Avenger. Mobile phone photography is not always, but can become a menace depending on the person yielding the weapon of choice - be it Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia etc. And while you may share a deep initmacy and a strong, unbreakable bond with your device, it should not affect my enjoyment or impact on my comfort level. This is an awesome statement that describes the beast:

"Public places are commonly “colonized” by the private lives of mobile individuals"

I will further revise and say "public places are being terrorised by mobile individuals". And while mobile technology has brought communications to a state of "anywhere, anytime", please, let's not take it that literally. It should NOT be anywhere everytime. I think we all have a personal responsibility when it comes to mobile phones and the accompanying tools. Let's use discretion and let's take a load off and get a grip when it comes to brandishing these devices in the public domain where other people are trying to have fun. Silly us for wanting that.

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Lent: The Ultimate Sacrifice...or Nightmare

With Lent upon us, many people have been pondering what to give up during the 40 day period. Traditional answers would be like meat, alcohol, cussing, sex. All are serious sacrifices. But what's scarier? Sarah Evans tweeted:

Last year during the season of Lent I asked people (regardless of faith): If you had to give up ONE what would it be: Twitter, FB or phone?

I almost passed out. I could live without meat and liquor, not too sure about cussing (lol) and I plead the Fifth on the last one. But you're asking me to decide between Twitter, Facebook and my phone? Je..eebies.

This is the world in which we live, peeps. I am horrified to think how I would survive without my phone for one. You remember those days when you had a phone book - a pocket sized book you would take down people's numbers in? I no longer own one of those and God forbid I should lose my phone or be asked to do without it for a week, I would not know how to call anyone, save maybe 3 people. And now with smartphones, would we be dumb without them? Or go crazy? My phone comes in handy when in waiting rooms, for example. Doctors keep you waiting. Airlines. Restaurants. During that time, you can get so much done via your phone - send emails and get some work covered, make appointments, catch up on news.

This brings me to Twitter. I use Twitter primarily for work. I tweet on 2 accounts, a personal account and the company account. The latter I update and use to interact with customers throughout the day and keep a finger on the pulse of our customer base. The former is great because I can follow the people and organisations that interest me, primarily work-related stuff, and access fab content which I read during breakfast or lunch, or in waiting rooms! There is always something new happening in such a short space of time and how else am I supposed to keep up? I have barely touched a newspaper in weeks. I follow CNN and BBC among others to keep current and not have blonde moments while socialising with others. Work-wise, I follow PR and social media feeds because again, keeps me current. Sometimes you find something quirky and interesting enough that you want to share it with your friends.

Facebook. Though I am not as addicted to some people I know (they shall remain nameless in this space, but you know yourselves), I love my Facebook. I can keep in touch with so many friends, who are scattered all over the place and this is where I go "offline" - off work. Work does factor in here occasionally, especially as I also manage the company's FB presence and I think by now my friends know exactly where I work with all the work things I tend to share from time to time. Again, I go back and forth between FB and the office, getting feedback, answering questions, hopefully solving problems.

And at the end of the day, sometimes in traffic, with the help of Blackberry IM, I share a laugh with my peeps about the day, make plans for the weekend and send ridiculous voice notes.

So you're asking again, which would I give up? If I gave up all of the other things - the meat, the sex etc - could I keep Twitter, Facebook AND my phone??

Photo credit: www.blackberryinsight.com

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