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Walls of Glass: Texting Versus Talking

Texting has its merits. You have time to craft your words so that you can communicate what you truly mean to say. Gone are the Freudian slips of face-to-face and phone communication. Whether that means you are more genuine, or less, I can't say, but texting does allow a more thoughtful reply.

Sometimes I wonder, however, whether a person is actually more truthful in his or her instinctive replies than in his or her polished ones. I think this is why I sometimes feel a little cynical of planned public speaking, because it is sometimes difficult to tell whether a person is crafting his or her speech simply to cater to the audience rather than, say, offering his or her raw thoughts on the subject.

I guess I yearn for a person's true beliefs (though I am hypocritical in this as well, because I wouldn't want people to spout out expletives or improprieties of speech because they didn't have the time to think through their words). As a teacher, too, I am conscious of the conflict between a need to present information in a clear, concise, and entertaining way; and the need to be genuine and open with others about yourself and your true thoughts. In any case, I believe, the standard of maturity in a public speaker is the point at which she can reconcile this conflict, and be both.

I suppose this desire for genuineness is why I prefer talking. Texting precludes voice tone and body language, which are both really important aspects of communicating with others. A person can say one thing, but communicate another, with his or her tone of voice and body language; and that more hidden message says more than a person's words.

As a result, there are fewer walls thrown up between two persons when there is phone or (especially) face-to-face talking. Either you learn to control your body language and tone of voice, and to craft your words in a way that sounds the way you want them to sound; or you let others see you more clearly. In short, phone conversation, and especially face-to-face talking, lead to more openness.

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