Phone conversations
It seems that 75% of people with mobile phones value an actual phone conversation, but that 92% mainly use their phones for internet access. Long rambling phone calls are on the out, declining yearly. Extroverts prefer face- to- face conversations, which they find energising. Introverts, of which I am one, use the phone mainly for utilitarian purposes and generally don’t chat. It is the teenager who does, screening out the nagging Mum and grumpy Dad and the annoying brothers and sisters and gossiping about the kids they have been with all day at school.
Now we are told that even teenagers are using text and the internet more, and long, rambling voice calls less.
My comment: We still have a landline, which probably identifies our approximate age. I don’t have a mobile at all ( my wife does), mainly because I have better things to do than check the phone every 8 minutes, which is apparently a bang-up-to- date, genuine statistic. My stance is often greeted with disbelief. How do you receive a text message? Good question.
Speaking as a moderate introvert 🙂 I suggest one advantage of “smart phones” and text messages: logistics. Cell phones allow peace of mind when traveling or keeping an appointment with someone when in traffic. Another rather pleasant aspect–communicating with children or grandchildren about interesting subjects that just pop up. Long conversations with the young (or mature) demand more psychic energy than does a thought that momentarily grabbed about a subject. For example, a teenage grandson’s interest in electric vehicles, roles in a school play, how the dog is behaving, how awful Trump was, or a quick inquiry about a specific subject they’re studying. Texting allows intimate connections which otherwise might not take place at all. Long conversations are the best but a little batch of mundane chit chats often evoke rewarding little moments.