Average Jane's Communication Breakdown

Probably because I'm a writer and not a particularly eloquent speaker, I've come to prefer e-mail as my primary mode of communication (other than face-to-face, that is).

I've always had an uneasy relationship with phones. Although I carry a cell phone, I'd really rather not talk on it very much.  I do have a bad habit of calling my sister to chat when I'm stuck in immovable rush hour traffic, but other than that I really only use the cell for quick calls that would have been e-mails if I'd been at my computer.

Our home phone might as well be out of service.  It's there for the sole purpose of connecting our alarm system and TiVo to the outside world.  I hear it ring sometimes and I presume that some people might leave messages on the answering machine, but I do not check them for weeks at a time.  I think my husband might, but I'm not sure.  As I see it, if you're my friend, you have my cell phone number.  If you're calling me at home, you probably just want something from me.

I'm a little ambivalent about instant messaging as well.  I like the new Google chat functionality and I'll use it now and then to talk to my husband.  I'm also on Windows Messenger, but only a few of my friends and co-workers have it, so it's kind of a waste of desktop real estate.  Anyone who wants to have a lengthy conversation with me that way at work would probably be better off just walking down the two flights of stairs and talking to me directly.  Or calling (*shudder*).

My preference for e-mail over calling is usually okay, except when it comes to my band.  The guys all have e-mail addresses, so I thought that would be our default communication medium.  I'd send e-mails to the whole group between practices, hoping for input on the band website, photos, song lists, etc.  Turns out, they don't check their e-mail very often at all.  To me, that's crazy talk.  I check all five (six?) of my e-mail accounts several times a day.  It's the modern-day equivalent of waiting anxiously for the postal truck to arrive. 

I asked them about it at our last practice and the consensus was, "If you want to talk to me, just give me a call."

Noooooooooooo!

My husband is encountering a similar communication style difference with his teenaged drum student.  She prefers to set up practice times with him via text messaging rather than talking over the phone.  I think it's safe to say that she's the only person to whom he ever sends text messages (except one to me once, to show me how it worked).  I can tell it's having an influence on how he IMs and e-mails - he's suddenly using acronyms that I'm pretty sure he didn't before.  Luckily, they're easy to figure out.

So, what communication technology do you prefer, and why?

Comments

[cj]

I only use the home phone for my internet usage. Even at work if I hear a phone ring I cringe, knowing that it's not even going to be for me. But I finally broke down and had to buy a cell phone when I was having health issues, with only a few knowing my number (but not the cousins). I'm about as comfortable with the thing as I would be with a land mine.

[Joy]

I'm a relic by today's standards...I don't even have a cell phone. But everyone in my family does. I do use e-mail ALL the time...I can't imagine being without it. Other than that...there's just my home phone. Archaic...I know.

[kevboy]

I love email. I was excited about Google Talk when it came out, and it's caused me to keep in much closer touch with a couple of school friends, but it's still a bit of a hassle at times...

I have ALWAYS hated the phone. I'm not sure why, but I've always been apprehensive about calling people. I still make my wife order pizza whenever I can =)

[Joolie]

I'd love text messaging if it didn't take so damn long to painstakingly scroll through the options for each letter. Those ridiculous acronymns came about for good reason. But I persevere because it's e-mail with the immediacy of a phone call. I hate getting trapped in a phone conversation when all I wanted to say was, "I'll be there at 8."

[zoe]

I prefer email then cell phone. Our land line exists for the TiVo.

[blaugra]

Our land line is for parents to call us - and for my husband, who is totally cell-phone-phobic.

I use my cell if I have to have a really quick "where are you? I'll be right there" conversation. But otherwise I don't like talking on either phone -- and I can't STAND when people use their cel next to me when I'm shopping because they're always much louder than when they're talking to their boyfriend at their side in the cereal aisle and then they don't concentrate on how they drive their cart.
I prefer to conduct business face-to-face or by email. With some of my young hip twenty-something friends, we text each other on phones, though.

[Deborah]

I do not use the phone for idle chit chat - in fact I'm not much on idle chit chat--in any form.
I'm on the phone for work 4-5 hours most every day.
I use e-mail for hello, how are you greetings (or in reply)
I write letters-still.
I have a land line phone (for MOM)
I do not have a cell-although I have had one in the past & will probably get another soon. No texting, although my son (24) and daughter (20) will make me surrender, eventually.

[Yvonne DiVita]

This is interesting. For years, my friends and family have tried to make me feel strange because I hate the phone. Even hate the cell phone. Email is it for me. I used to IM, when my kids were in college, but I haven't opened IM for years. I don't know about Google Talk. It's probably fine. But, email works. It's fast enough, close enough and it works. For me.