My friend once mentioned to me that she has less of a relationship with friends whom she texts. If you text them once a month, it turns into once a year, etc, til it’s a different type of friendship. More distant. Nothing to really talk about, cus it’s hard to have real conversations over texting. I feel that way, too. I won’t really often text a person just to say hi. I’ll text them for a favor or a question.
Text is so superficial. It’s hard to express feelings without a physical hug, or smile, or punch. It’s not real. That’s one reason why it’s a bad thing – people will say different things and act differently if there is cyberspace as a barrier.
I received news of my friend’s father’s death over texting. It felt so weird. The person who told me about it couldn’t break the news in person. Even over the phone would have been better, but it was too loud to talk where I was, so I asked her to text me what she wanted to tell me. It was just words – but there was so much more to it that couldn’t be relayed through texting.
So, yes, there is an eis l’text, and an eis l’be a person. Texting is very convenient in many situations. I find this true even if I’m texting someone who’s on the same couch as I am. It’s nice to have a shopping list in front of me, instead of trying to remember what was told to me. But some times call for real people, instead of words they wrote.