Hakeem Farquharson
Eng. 100
T.M.
Essay# 2 Final Draft
Topic: Texting

In the modern day society, technology is rapidly advancing all around us especially in the way people communicate. It’s kind of hilarious to know that some people, particularly adolescents, find voice mailing and calling to be an impolite way of communicating. In this time of age, texting is a significant tool that has been looked upon as both a successful innovation and as a harmful way of communication. Texting is a great tool to communicate with people at your own leisure without seeing them face to face. Mostly used by the younger generation, many adolescents find this as the most effective way of communicating with each other. Some people, however, find calling and voice mailing as a time wasting and expensive form of communication. But, this however, brings up a question. Since texting is an easier and faster way of communicating, and people begin to take on the habit of consistent texting, can it bring negative impact on their lives? Constantly texting can lead to stress and anxiety, distraction for students in school, sleep deprivation, and impoliteness in social moments. To prevent this constant behavior or addiction, people should find effective ways to not help texting bring negative impact on their lives. In the article, “How Many Text Messages Are Too Many” by Shannon Doyne (I), states that, “ I have decreasing amounts of tolerance for unnecessary communication because it is a burden and a cost”, said by Baratunde Thurston, co­ founder of Cultivated Wit. In other words, people find calling and voice mailing as unnecessary ways of communication. They believe that

these ways are time wasting and expensive. This article expresses that calling and voice mailing are unnecessary to use because texting allows faster and easier communication between each other. Not only that, but, people find it to be impolite and time wasting. At the beginning of the article it talks about a young girl who receives numerous voicemails from her father. She spitefully doesn’t reply to his messages because she finds it impolite and time consuming . She believes that communication could happen faster by text. This resonates with my thesis because I believe that people are looking at texting as the only source of communication when there many different ways. I believe it is unfair to people, especially the older generation because they are accustomed to communicating by calling. Learning how to text is not always easier and faster for every individual. Also, constantly texting can negatively affect you in many ways. And as the girl sees texting as the only way of communication it will have negative impact on her. “Based on our experiences with computer users, we know intensive repetitive use of the upper extremities can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, so we have some reason to be concerned that too much texting could lead to temporary or permanent damage to the thumbs”, stated by
Peter W. Johnson in the article “Texting May Be Taking A Toll” by Katie Hafner (II) which talks about how texting is negatively affecting people especially teens which can lead to anxiety, sleep deprivation, distraction in school, falling grades, and repetitive stress injury. This quote however resonated with me because it reveals a ninth­ grade honor student who texts on her phone as fast as she types on a regular keyboard. A few months later, she noticed painful cramping in her thumbs which had taken a toll on her. This goes to show that the consistency of texting, although it may be faster and easier, can be harmful and bring negative impact on people’s lives.

Professor Sherry Turkle, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ,stated that, “if something next to you is vibrating every couple of minutes, it makes it very difficult to be in that state of mind. If you’re being deluged by constant