These days, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore that we are living in a world dominated by texting. The old days, when home phone service providers ruled and we were all happily chatting on our landlines, seems like a century ago. And for all the convenience that being able to text and email each other has brought, we seem to have lost something along the way.
The intimacy of two voices in conversation and the emotion that comes through spoken communication are being lost as we switch to a text-only world. When we embrace the ease of texting and email, we risk losing something that makes us who we are as human beings. We risk losing our voices, and everything that they can say.
Why Do We Talk in the First Place?
You might think that all this talk of losing our voices is exaggeration, but as CNN reported as early as 2011, there are a growing number of people who prefer texting to talking to one another. In 2011, it was one third of all Americans; by now, that number is even higher.
There are scientists trying to study what we lose when we give up talking to each other. But these scientists, despite their PhDs, are having a hard time understanding what we may be losing in this shift to text.
So, why do we talk? And why should we keep bothering to make phone calls when social media apps, email, and text messaging are making voice-to-voice communication so much easier to avoid?
The Benefits of Talking
The benefits of talking to each other can be seen in a wide variety of social situations. In fact, there are so many benefits, that it can be hard to believe. There is nothing really wrong with written communication, but speaking can do things that writing just can’t. And when compared side by side, talking always wins.
Here are some examples. There is no substitute for spoken communication in situations when you are trying to discreetly get a message across by using your tone of voice. Nothing compares to talking when it comes to reaching agreement or when you are trying to give information during an emergency.
Talking is always quicker at getting the point across, adding layers of meaning through tone of voice. Also, talking invites response, discussion, and feedback on ideas, creating and supporting community in ways that text-based communication still can’t.
Why the Telephone Is Still Relevant
The invention of the telephone was a major step forward for humans. It allowed us to transfer all the benefits of talking from face-to-face communication to communication over vast distances. Home phone service providers made it so that the written word would no longer have to stand in as a substitute for talking via the letter or the telegram.
It can be difficult to keep the significance of the telephone firmly in mind these days. We live in a time where people carry tiny computers with them everywhere we go. People still call these tiny computers “phones,” but their ability to make and receive calls is now a minor portion of what they do. But without the phone, we would still be in a position where written communication, delivered as quickly as it is these days, would be the only form of communication possible over great distances.
The Phone Still Matters
Home phone service providers and cellular providers are still a necessary part of the fabric of our society. The phone is still important in many situations where clarity, efficiency, and speed (not to mention emotion and meaning) are important.
Verbal communication and all the subtle nuances that go along with it is still the best way to convey meaning quickly, and with greater impact over long distances. Get the most from your home phone with the best home VoIP provider, magicJack!