Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Typeractive - part II

The Washington Post had an interesting op-ed piece about the whole texting phenomena called Love in the Age of Texting. I could really relate. I hate the whole texting thing. I've even got it blocked on my cell phone. I'm not a fan of IM either.

The article is a pretty savvy follow-on to my post on the Internet Paradox, as writer Natalie Y. Moore recounts her relationship with her ex-boyfriend--who dumped her for being uncommunicative, although SHE was the one who wanted to TALK and HE was the one who preferred to TEXT. Says Moore:

"A flirtatious text here and there is fine, but a text of more than 100 characters? That's overkill (not to mention hard to read). When the time comes, I don't want to see the words "will u marry me" in one-point font. Call me old-fashioned, but I wonder what's so "advanced" about these so-called advancements in communication. When they're abused, they can make a caveman's grunt seem refined. The same gadgets that allow you to be in touch all the time sometimes mask the fact that you never really touched at all."
In rebuttal, writer Ryan Mink sings the praises of texting stating "when I get a text message at work saying, "I love you!!!" with three, -- count 'em, three! -- exclamation points, it makes me smile. You can never have too much of a good thing."

Ah Ryan! Three exclamation points does not a love affair make...Call me old-fashioned but I'll take a real smile or wink over an exclamation point or emoticon any day.

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