Communication Across the Generational Lines

I'm amazed at how quickly that "texting" became the dominant form of communication, especially among the high school & college generations. I heard recently that it's because the under 21s think and communicate in "bullet points", the World War II generation communicates in stories and anecdotes, and everyone else in shades of grey between those two extremes. I think it could possibly go a little deeper than that. I think that most people, no matter how old or young they are, want to control what and to whom they communicate, and texting has just made it a lot easier to control that information flow. Think back (if you were around then) to when email first became widespread. Phone calls at work started decreasing and emails started increasing; you didn't have to get stuck talking to that boring guy in the next office over, you could just email him. I think that it's similar with texting. Sometimes you just don't want to have a conversation, and when you do have a conversation, it's still considered proper to engage in some pleasantries and small talk , which you might not have the time and inclination to engage in. With a text you can shoot a quick message out, not having to worry about being polite, using proper grammar, or even making sense.

One thing that I do think is generational is the almost pathological need to be "connected" at all times. people checking their cell phones messages (including email) while driving, while walking across the street, while talking to other people. I used to think it was bad when I'd see three or four people walking down the street and instead of interacting with each other, they're all talking on the phone to four other people. Now you have guests in your house texting under the table, or more and more, right in front of you. Wait 'till we get those chips implanted in our heads!