The development of the mobile phone industry has significantly revolutionized communication. In the past, cell phones were associated with wealth since the only the rich couls afford them. However, the number of people owning the device in the present world has risen substantially because of a number of reasons, including reduced cost (Holtgraves & Paul, 2013). With the development of technology, communication through mobile phones also has advanced. The primary techniques of communicating include the use of text message and regular phone calls. Short message service (SMS) has become a universal method of electronic interaction with the most affected persons being teenagers (Golwalkar, Palan, Vaniyamparambath & Wang, 2016). Texting is related to emailing since it signifies a combination of written and oral communication channels. People usually reserve phone calls for a full conversation, argument, and job discussion among other important conversations. The phone call, which was simplified in the mid-1990s, has been overtaken by texting. However, both modes of communication have transformed the face of the world by changing how people communicate and acquire information.
Similarities between Texting and Talking
The invention of mobile phones has significantly transformed people’s mode of communication since it allows individuals to send and make calls. The two features share numerous similarities that make individuals universally embrace them. Among the similarities is that the two incorporate language to be effective (Holtgraves & Paul, 2013). Notably, language is a crucial element in the social discussion even though sometimes people tend to use photos and emojis to express their feelings. Equally, both texting and calling are alike in their function since they are primarily designed to aid in discussion. People make calls and send text messages and pictures to communicate with their colleagues and friends. However, talking and sending texts while driving can cause distractions with messaging being considered the most distractive as it requires a person to concentrate on the phone (Libby, Chaparro & He, 2013). As such, the use of phones while driving is hazardous as it can cause accidents.
Differences between Texting and Talking
Both talking and texting are useful modes of communication, but calling enhances the delivery of sound as opposed to sending messages. Speaking facilitates the expression of emotions than calling based on the use of tone and other forms of human voice. For instance, conversation between closely related individuals such as girlfriends, boyfriends, and family members are primarily through phone calls, which permits manifestation of feelings (Holtgraves & Paul, 2013). However, the conveyance of multimedia content is only applicable to texting. Individuals like to use emojis, pictures, and links when chatting with their colleagues, families and friends. The mentioned media can be sent to numerous contacts at once. Talking has a substantial information density compared to texting, especially when an individual has a lot of materials to communicate. In essence, when the discussion is expected to take long, calling is considered advantageous.
Calling requires minimal visual attention as opposed to texting especially when a person is required to focus on a particular activity such as driving and walking (Holtgraves & Paul, 2013). Talking allows instant replies, thus, is quicker than text messaging. Therefore, when a person needs to deliver urgent information a phone call is acknowledged as the best alternative. However, the use of SMS gives the receiver the freedom to choose when to read and reply to messages. A message can be replied to immediately or after some hours based on the receiver’s availability. Phone calls can easily reveal personal information to the public, which might cause privacy issues (Golwalkar, Palan, Vaniyamparambath & Wang, 2016). On the contrary, texting facilitates privacy since it makes it difficult for another person to comprehend what the discussion entails apart from the receiver and the sender. The primary difference between the two channels of communication is cost. The fee for making a phone call is usually higher than that of sending a text.
Conclusion
Texting and talking are among the major components of mobile phone communication. Their development has completely transformed how people receive and send messages. The methods share some similarities such as the use of language to enhance conversations. Language is a significant element of human discussion even though sometimes people use pictures to communicate. However, texting and calling while driving can be distractive, which might lead to accidents. Both texting and calling are alike in their function since they are primarily designed to aid in discussion. People make calls and send text messages and pictures to communicate with their colleagues and friends. Despite the relations, there are some differences between sending texts and speaking on the phone. For instance, the cost of making a call is not only higher than that of texting but also exposes private conversation to the public. Texting is considered to be cheap and promotes privacy of the information. Example, when one is texting the person close to the sender is not able to comprehend what the discussion entails compared to when making calls.
References
Golwalkar, H., Palan, N., Vaniyamparambath, S., & Wang, S. (2016). Texting vs Calling: A contextual comparison. https://people.rit.edu/nxp4195/images/blog/Research/TvC.pdf
Holtgraves, T., & Paul, K. (2013). Texting versus talking: An exploration in telecommunication language. Telematics and Informatics, 30(4), 289-295. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257242690_Texting_versus_talking_An_exploration_in_telecommunication_language
Libby, D., Chaparro, A., & He, J. (2013, September). Distracted while driving: A comparison of the effects of texting and talking on a cell phone. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society annual meeting (Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1874-1878). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1541931213571418