I specifically remember one day, texting my friend (who had a new iPhone) when randomly five or six little boxes showed up [] [] [] [] []. I couldn't figure out if my phone was breaking, or not being able to see the text, and it was quite frustrating. But soon enough the boxes stopped coming and I could read the texts again. Every so often a box would come up at the end of a message, but it wasn't a big deal.
One day, I asked my friend what time her party started over text. I was mortified when the response I got was "O ur not invited n e more []". Nearly in tears because of embarrassment, I erased the message, and turned off my phone. Texting wasn't fun anymore. When my mom asked why I wasn't going to the party anymore, I lied and said that I had a stomach ache. Well, I did, but it was because I had just found out that one of my best friends hated me. How could I go on living?
It wasn't till the next day that I found out that I still was invited. Turns out, those boxes I kept receiving were actually these new things called Emojis (read: little pictures of faces and such). My friend had sent me that sarcastic text message followed by a "winky face" or ";)" which apparently meant that she wasn't being serious. Because I was too scared to turn back on my phone out of fear of more hate mail from my so-called friend, I missed her follow-up text that answered my question and related how excited she was for me to come.
Nowadays, understanding text messages doesn't quite require a code breaker, however, sarcasm and humor still don't always translate well over text. I can't even count how many times my sarcastic nature has nearly gotten me into trouble because of texting. As far as sarcasm goes, save it for real life. Oral communication will always be superior to texting because you can read the speaker's emotions and gauge humor and sarcasm.
I think you make a good point here, but I think the specific problem you are referring to is not just a difference between spoken and language and written language. Texting has become it's own language in itself. If you don't understand the culture of a language, then you might miss what is really being said in spite of what is being said. This makes me think of that big blue guy from guardians of the galaxy. [] (<-- winky face)
ReplyDeleteHaha, this is a great experience for this post. I'm sorry you had to miss out on that party, but isn't it amazing how things can be interpreted so incorrectly if only one word is wrong. I have had many experiences like that, which is why I'm not the biggest fan of texting.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing what a simple winky face or smilie face can do for a text. They help express emotion when the words themselves cannot. I remember seeing or reading somewhere that this person would text people emoticons, and the other person would text back without them. Distraught, this person exclaimed, "I'm talking to an emotionless robot!" After discovering this, I add faces to almost all of my texts.
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