Texting Insights From Teenagers (Post I)

Today was the first day of final exams. However, before we could administer Period One's exam, we had to rotate through classes as time "filler." My first period class is filled with a real cast of characters -- from all walks of life, all races and ethnicities, all intellectual levels. But when they get started on a relevant topic, they all get passionate offering their opinions. Granted, this was not a formal, educational discussion, but I thought you all in Sociology of Cyberspace would find interesting.

The topic? Text messaging.

Granted, texting isn't a computer thing, but it's a technology similar to ICQ/AIM in a sense. I eavesdropped and wrote down some of the things they were saying:

--"My mom sends me texts at school! She sent one that said 'OMG! I'm having the worst day ever!' Why the hell's text me at school? And she better stop with that OMG shit or I'm going to smack her upside her head!"

--"Know what I hate? When you write a long-ass text telling someone some important shit and they write back 'ok.' I spent all that time writing that text and all you can say is 'ok'?"

--"I text all the time. My mom asks what I talk about so much, but I'm just texting."

Here's what I noticed about all of these comments: people have come to rely on an impersonal medium to say what they're thinking. Sometimes they're not thinking about anything, but they feel compelled to tell others they're not thinking about anything. Other times they things they couldn't say in person. (In fact, the kids went on to talk about breaking up with boyfriends/girlfriends via text messaging, but I didn't get the chance to write any of it down.)

This all ties into this week's case study. On page one, the young lady says, "[technology] was a medium to be blatantly honest..." I guess that part of the appeal to texting: you're personal in a sense because it's one-on-one contact, but it's impersonal because you can't look into the other person's eyes.

Sounds appealing, right?

Okay, I must get some work done (yes, I'm writing this during a free period). I have to create an exam using Plato's discussion on Equality of Women. I'm going to tie it into Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. Ought to be interesting...at least for me.