Is texting and messaging making us dumb?

Our ability to retain information (including phone numbers) may be in decline because we rely on our phones and tablets to do it for us, but are we also in danger of outsourcing our self-expression - and to a third-rate supplier?

Hurried notes used to constitute a small part of communication compared with the amount of face-to-face conversations, letters and phone calls. Now the quick, written message threatens to dominate: in the last decade the number of texts sent per month has increased by 7,700% (US research), with over 68% of users saying they text more than they speak on their phones.

Technology is also ‘helping’ us to create the message: predictive text saves us the trouble of typing out a full word, provided, that is, that what we want to say is predictable. The algorithm doesn’t always guess right. As recipients we’ve learned to factor that in: we’re no longer surprised when at the end of a busy day a colleague messages to say we ‘deserve a breakfast’. We know they mean ‘break’. Or do they?

I have a colleague who texts at such speed that it is common to receive three messages in quick succession, the second clearing up a predicted text error in the first and the third correcting something in the second. Not much of a time saving.

We can dispense with many words altogether by picking from a menu of emoji’s.

The set menu won’t always have what you’re after: there’s certainly a response-option missing on social media between the cheery thumbs up and the crying face. How are you meant to indicate that you agree with a serious post? The original programmer obviously did not believe a thoughtful ‘acknowledgement’ emoji would ever be needed and their decision pushes us into a generalised clumsiness. Some apps do now offer a wide range of different facial expression emojis intended to cover all possible moods, but by the time you’ve identified the best fit you could easily have written your message ‘old-style’ with words.

The number one emoji is, apparently, ‘Face with Tears of Joy’. But is the most common emotion on reading someone’s good news really “I’m so delighted that I’m crying tears of joy”? For many of us “Oh, that’s really good to hear” would be more accurate. And if I’m going to be ‘crying tears of joy’ that you’ve been reunited with your lost luggage, what other emoji is available to mark your baby’s successful heart surgery? Emojis are necessarily a very blunt instrument and skewed towards extremes of reaction.

LinkedIn offers us a series of professional-sounding response-phrases both for posts and messages. They have some effect the first time you receive them, but once you know that the ‘Well said’ or ‘Oh I see’ is pre-formatted it has the same impersonal impact as a thumbs-up. The one-click ‘That’s awesome!’ has the same authenticity as a tears of joy emoji.

Providing us with selections of pictures and phrases may not spring from an altruistic urge to care for the time-poor. There’s a saying in data tech security ‘If it’s free, then you’re the product!’ It’s worth noting that on social media if you bother to write even a two-word response rather than quickly hitting the ‘like’ button, you’ll see a reduction in the number of adverts that appear in your feed. Tech co’s need to categorise us by our preferences in order to serve their real customer, the advertiser. Unpredictable language is our super power!

Time-saving messaging technology is here to stay and it can be habit-forming, but we do have the option to side-step its temptations and consider the best language for the message we want to send. In fact if it takes a moment to find the right word to capture our intention exactly, we can be all the more certain that a phrase or picture from a limited picknmix would not have been a good substitute.

There are additional benefits:

The process itself may clarify in our own mind what we really want to say - and even whether the message needs sending at all.

The brainwork involved may prove to be its own reward: scientists recommend keeping the brain active and engaging with language as a way of staving off cognitive decline in later life, so it makes sense to avoid semi-passivity in our day-to-day communications.

Creating a rich and accurate message also provides useful practice if there’s to be face-to-face discussion later on. Simply saying “Love this!” and repeatedly putting our thumbs up will not be enough IRL.

Whenever we’re lured by our gadgets into opting for a ‘near-enough’ picture, phrase or word we take a step away from expressing ourselves authentically. When we receive a message that has evidently had time spent on it we can tell that the sender has given it – and us – more than a moment's thought.

Next time there's a message you want to send, make sure it's really you doing the speaking.