Have you ever found yourself frustrated, perhaps even a little ticked when someone you emailed, texted, left a message for, or IM'd didn't get back to you right away? Maybe you texted your friend to see if they wanted to meet up with you and the crew at the bar. Or perhaps you called your sibling to discuss what to give to your mom for Mother's Day and got their voice mail.
On the flip side, have you ever been drifting off to sleep at 12:30 am on a Wednesday and were roused from slumber by the sound of an incoming text from your friend? Texting me about how drunk you were couldn't wait until tomorrow? Oh and the picture mail of your girlfriend vomiting on your shoes was a nice touch. Or perhaps you were about to finally score with that cute girl or guy you've been courting for weeks, only to have your mom call just as the condom wrapper hit the floor?
Cell phones, text messages, picture and video mail, email, instant messaging, mobile web access--all of these technologies have made keeping in touch so much easier, yet some of us are so used to connecting with people instantly, that when we don't get an instant response, we get agitated. And the constant barrage of beeps, musical ringers, popup notifications, and vibrations are driving us to distraction and madness.
Remember when most people didn't even have answering machines, much less voice mail? Or if you called, you got a busy signal, and they had no idea you were trying to get a hold of them? Actually maybe you don't. My point is that it's ok to disconnect now and then. I think every single one of us needs to take a whole week off from being connected once or twice a year. Leave the state, leave town, or just stay at home. Turn off the phone. Unplug the computer. Put the Blackberry in a drawer. Once you get over the initial withdrawal, you'll be surprised at the wave of calm that comes over you.
3 comments (leave yours):
I LOATHE instant messaging and will NOT do it. I won't text on my phone, and I won't IM you on the computer, so DON'T ASK ME.
IM has been part of my life since my college days. On the terminals for the unix servers in the computer science program at UND, we'd use text command line programs called ntalk and ytalk to chat with each other about assignments. There were also other text-based command line programs we used to totally fuck with each other. I had I script I wrote that dumped a series of ASCII art images of Burt Reynolds and other 80's figures to other people's terminals in what I called The Cavalcade of Stars.
Around this time people also started using a windows program called ICQ to chat with each other. I remember many nights after college chatting with my long distance girlfriend over ICQ.
It took me a while to accept the whole texting thing though. I ended up dating a girl a few years ago who texted obsessively. I really had little choice but to pick it up. Now I use it regularly, but still tend to prefer picking up the phone to call someone to texting or IM.
And you aren't that much older than me, man! I'm not giving you shit, just making a point that it's funny how a few years makes all the difference. Friends and acquaintances of mine who are 25 or so text and IM more than they talk on the phone. And kids 15 or 20 write like they text. How sad.
Hey man, give me shit; I can take it.
It was actually ICQ more than anything else that turned me against the whole concept. Nine or ten years ago I played an online game called Acrophobia excessively--like 6+ hours daily--and ICQ was what players used to communicate outside a game room when it was full. And I was giving this game 50+ hours weekly of my life, so it was pretty important. And an acquaintance or two of mine around the country and world was also into it. So I did it. Then I started hurting people's feelings having my "do not disturb" up when they thought I shouldn't, or showing up responding to something when I was "invisible" and they thought I shouldn't be "spying" on the system, blah blah blah. And then the fucking spam started, with the ASCII renderings of beer trucks and what-not and "grab a beer and pass it on," and arrrrrggggghhhh. And it was finally like "you know what? Fuck all y'all. I'm off this forever. Email me."
I'm into placidity.
Every once in a while the system manager at work makes racket about implementing some sort of IM as an official channel for project communication. I've dissuaded him so far, but I think it's only a matter of time. I really like my job, so I suppose I'll eventually have to smile and eat the shitburger that is instant messaging.
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