Phones

The use of phones for communication has come a long way from the first ever phone call made in 1876 to the first ever text sent in 1992. And while both of these are used for the same purpose, they are used very differently for both personal and professional reasons.

First there are calls, these are far more involved than texting as they require you to be able to clearly and effectively speak. For example, if you are calling your boss or a coworker about something important, being quiet or difficult to understand will often lead to you needing to repeat what you had said. This is most important when in a professional or work setting where using formal language is needed for the job. Calling is least common in places where a low noise level is expected, such as a library, this is where texting is useful.

Texting is a far less involved and more discreet way of communicating, with it being completely silent as long as you have your notifications silenced, allowing you to communicate in places where speaking may not be a viable option. Texting also has a place in professional settings but it’s far less common as texting tends to be more informal, which makes it better for things outside of a professional setting like asking your parents to come pick you up or having a casual conversation with a friend.

There are also personal factors that may make someone choose one method over the other. For example, if someone is introverted and quiet, they would most likely prefer texting as they probably are not great at speaking or prefer to not speak. While if someone is extroverted and likes speaking to people, they would probably go with calling. These personal differences show best how these two types of communication are used in different ways because everybody has their personal preferences and may simply be more comfortable using one.

Personally, I prefer texting as I’m not great with translating my thoughts through my voice. However, I expect that I will have to make calls a lot more when I get a job which will require me to get better at talking with people. Even though texting has quickly grown in use in the last 33 years, it doesn’t seem like it will replace calling anytime soon because the personal reasons people may have for why they use one or the other and how the ways that people use them are constantly changing and evolving mean that one of them will never become the sole form of communication.
“Texting” by Jhaymesisviphotography is licensed under CC BY 2.0.