Texting - Yay or Nay?

W

Wild1

New Member
What are everyone's thoughts on texting?

Do you love it, or wish the phone couldn't do it? Or do you avoid doing it anyway and wish your younger relatives would just pick up the phone?

Often my mother and I have said we wish we could text him and have him text. (So much easier than email for quick little things, like "Got home safe," and less disruptive than phone, say if it is late at night). Also with his hearing being bad this would be a good way to clarify details that can sometimes be misheard and cause confusion when trying to coordinate plans for instance.

Thinking of getting my grandpa a smartphone and this would be one of the reasons (yes you can text with the flip phone but it's just too hard really). Thoughts?
 

Wild1 said:
What are everyone's thoughts on texting?

Do you love it, or wish the phone couldn't do it? Or do you avoid doing it anyway and wish your younger relatives would just pick up the phone?

Often my mother and I have said we wish we could text him and have him text. (So much easier than email for quick little things, like "Got home safe," and less disruptive than phone, say if it is late at night). Also with his hearing being bad this would be a good way to clarify details that can sometimes be misheard and cause confusion when trying to coordinate plans for instance.

Thinking of getting my grandpa a smartphone and this would be one of the reasons (yes you can text with the flip phone but it's just too hard really). Thoughts?
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I personally think it’s a great idea for your grandpa.

It’s a perfect way to keep in touch and will be something he can learn to do.

It’s something I wished I’d taught my folks to do before they became incapacitated.

They can keep the phone near them at all times so they don’t have to get up to answer the phone.

You can send pictures and do all kinds of other stuff like add reminders for things.

It’s a good idea.
 
I rarely use my mobile phone and text only when necessary, sometimes if I’m out with friends their phone never stops pinging to alert them they have a text, even during a meal, it would drive me nuts !
 
I like it, but I have a basic flip phone where you sometimes have to press a key 3 or 4 times to get the letter you want, so that limits how much I use it.
 
Like Trade, I find that it's inconvenient to construct a message without a full keyboard - so I don't text. Nobody texts me, mainly because they don't know my number!

One of my pet hates is people using 'text speak'. If they can't be bothered to write properly, then I can't be bothered reading what they have to say.
 
Trade said:
I like it, but I have a basic flip phone where you sometimes have to press a key 3 or 4 times to get the letter you want, so that limits how much I use it.
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That would be annoying and I wouldn’t like it.
I’ve got an iPhone which makes texting super easy so when answering I assume that everyone’s got an easy texting pad.
 
Keesha said:
That would be annoying and I wouldn’t like it.
I’ve got an iPhone which makes texting super easy so when answering I assume that everyone’s got an easy texting pad.
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I like my flip phone. It's cheap and small so I can put it in my pocket and I don't even know it's there.

But I gotta be careful to check my pockets before I put my pants in the wash. That's how I killed my last flip phone.
 
Trade said:
I like my flip phone. It's cheap and small so I can put it in my pocket and I don't even know it's there.

But I gotta be careful to check my pockets before I put my pants in the wash. That's how I killed my last flip phone.
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I wish I could say I killed my last phone the same way. My way was even sillier🥺
 
Thanks for all the positive feedback. I have another thread on here about the smartphones themselves.
One thing I remember doing when I was young was exchanging letters with older relatives. While it's nice and I almost kind of miss it, I think both of us quit doing it because it is just difficult to keep a conversation going.... and with how fast texting is, letter writing is kind of unfathomable.

I do like talking though. But with some of my older relatives hearing, (esp. my Grandma, who I don't think could actually learn it at this point) it would be so nice if they were able to. My grandma is now getting really isolated not even having a TV in her facility (She's in a MC type facility because she needs the extra help getting around and all that). If she had a smartphone, it would have been different, but I can tell SHE (unlike my grandpa) would not be able to learn at this point (she is more incapacitated and Grandpa is still doing well and has more of a positive attitude toward learning new things).

applecruncher said:
Texting is fine for some situations.
But for lengthy communication email is better, and for some things phone is best.
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Yeah, some young people are really bad at this. Like, they don't answer their phones when they totally have no good reason to and then text the person back! I've seen it and had discussions about this firsthand. It makes me feel old seeing them (slightly younger than me) feel differently about this. But I'm OK with that because of course, I'm right ;)
 
gennie said:
I never warmed up to texting but love FaceTime with little great-grand on I-Pad. Does that count?
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As far as my question is concerned it kind of does count. Do you have a smartphone? Or a flip phone? If you have a smart phone and still don't like texting that's definitely useful information to me.

Trying to figure out if Grandpa should step up to a smartphone or not. Trying to figure if he would use the texting or not as that would be a major benefit of it (he too, loves his iPad!)
 
The other night was an example of when phone call is more appropriate than texting. Partner of a firm I used to work for passed away. Former co-worker and I talked on phone .....5 minutes about Ken and 5 minutes catchup.

Phone calls aren't THAT big of a deal...really. I don't understand why so many hate talking on the phone.
 
I like to text my friends and attach a picture or two. I can press the microphone button and just dictate the text message body instead of having to type on the tiny keyboard. Of course then I have to be in a place where I can speak out loud. If not, my smartphone keyboard is large enough to type in my message.

Usually, when I try to call someone and they don't answer I will send a text. Often that person is in a place where they can't take a voice call but can answer by text.
 
I much prefer texting to phone calls, unless there's a lot to be discussed. Texting gives you a record of exactly what was covered. I use texting for my contracts, as well. As every Judge Judy viewer knows, texts are admissible evidence in court cases.
 
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