Sixty percent of Lipscomb students polled say they would text before using any other means of communication.
A survey from Sept. 10. asked students “When you wish to contact someone, how would you normally do it? (assuming all options are available at the time you want to contact them).” The four options to choose from were phone call, text message, instant message (email, Facebook, etc.) or knock on their door (face to face).
A few years ago the polls would have shown different results, but now most Americans, especially college students, carry a mobile phone.
Rebecca Clark, a Lipscomb junior, has seen a decrease in the amount she calls and said she has grown maybe too comfortable with texting.
“I used to call people a lot more, but texting just seems so much easier,” she said. “I’ve grown used to it, and now I tend to feel more awkward about calling someone. And I’d much rather send a text so I have time to respond, instead of be on the spot.”
Judging by the poll results, 60 percent of the time, when communicating, nobody is actually talking. Things like tone of voice and body language are not a factor in a text message, meaning a lot of the time what you say can easily be misinterpreted. President of Lipscomb’s IT Department, Nick Painter, is familiar with this situation.
“I can see how most people text instead of call nowadays, but texting is not always the best method,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll text my girlfriend and say something completely harmless, or I’ll be joking, and she’ll get mad at me, or it will come across differently because she doesn’t get what I’m saying. Sometimes it’s better to just call, though most people wouldn’t.”
Technology is having a huge impact on the way humans interact. One can only wonder what the future holds for methods of communicating. Lipscomb Senior Brian Wessels said he isn’t sure what new technologies are developing, but he did have this to share:
“I remember that movie Wall-E where everyone was fat and flying around on hover chairs. Everything they did was on a TV Screen. Texting and everything is fine; I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
If you’d like to take the poll, follow this link. https://cs.createsurvey.com/reports/report?s=29439&r=100001&quickfilter=yes