Matt Haupt

While driving home the other day I was listening to NPR and came across a story on teens and texting. There wasn’t anything too special about this particular story – teens text throughout the school day, they text an extraordinary amount of times, yadda yadda yadda. (To read or listen to the story click here).

Although this story has some great research on how texting and technology is becoming second-nature to younger generations, there was one quote from a Los Angeles teacher that made me think a little bit about texting and social interactions.

Nini Halkett has taught history there for two decades and laments the bad spelling and writing that seems to worsen as texting becomes more widespread. As her students are increasingly immersed in texting, Halkett also finds them increasingly shy and awkward in person.

“They can get up the courage to ask you for [a deadline] extension on the computer,” she says. “But they won’t come and speak to you face-to-face about it. And that worries me, in terms of their ability — particularly once they get out in the workplace — to interact with people.”

There are a few theories I want to address, and suggest that texting and other technology that deals with communication, may be unjustly getting a bad wrap.

Texting, E-mail, Blogging promotes spelling and grammatical errors

Now, this has been going on for a long time, and even as a younger individual, I have seen a few different communication “devices” blamed for poor grammar. First it was e-mail, then instant message, and now texting. They blame these communication tools for promoting bad spelling and grammatical errors mainly due to the users writing quickly and not taking the time to revise their text. They believe that the more these teenagers write in this fashion, the more that they get in the habit of writing this way, and this can now be seen in their school work.

I mean, I get why they would think that, but there could be numerous reasons for this trend. First, the educational system may not be promoting grammar the way it used to. Second, grammar as we know it may be changing and adapting as time moves on. Also, even though writing emails and texts may be informal, teenagers are probably “writing” more than they have in the past, which means they could actually be improving the way they communicate through the written word (just in a new and “adapted” writing structure).

As teenagers increase their use of technology to communicate, the ability to interact with people in person is hindered

This is probably the worst assumption I have ever seen. To say that a means of communications actually hinders communicating in another form is just outlandish to me. Let’s take the example in the article, a student asking for an extension through the computer and not in person. How do we know that these students would ask for an extension in person if there was no other form to do so? Could the students just attempt to complete the assignment even though they are having trouble and risk a lower grade?  Teenagers who are more “introverted” may be afraid or uncomfortable asking permission for things in person, regardless of their options to do so.

I believe that students’ voices are actually increasingly being heard by the world when in some past cases they wouldn’t be, especially students who are a little more introverted. Giving students a way to communicate other than in person, gives them the ability to think over their thoughts without being expected to make quick and snappy responses. Texting, e-mails and blogging are actually increasing communication, not hindering it.

Technology has always been the scapegoat for problems in the world. When the world changes, individuals seem to look towards what technological devices are out there that could have caused the change/”problem”. Because technology doesn’t help anyone, ever, apparently.

Down with evil texting.

Photo by  Mike “Dakinewavamon” Kline

I am definitely an introvert.

You know how I know I am? Because I re-wrote this blog entry probably 15 different times because it just didn’t seem “right”.  You might think that is being a perfectionist, I think that is just because I never truly put my thoughts together before I started typing away.

But you know what? That’s okay, because in the online world, you get to think about what you want to say before you say (type) it.

It is funny how our online and offline personalities seem to match a lot more than some people say. I know there is this whole tendency to think that just because you have more conversations online than in real life, that you become more extroverted, but if you take a closer look that isn’t always the case.

Yesterday I asked my sister, who just received her masters degree and is going to be one hell of a academic counselor someday, how she compared her online personality to her offline, and if she sees her introversion in both. I remembered her saying that she didn’t comment too much on blogs, she just liked to read them, and I thought that might be due to her being introverted.  She answered me, even past her bedtime (she has 3 young ones, so she really needs the shut eye)…

“…when I stopped and thought about it, I realized that my lack of participation is still a bit due to my introvertism, just not quite in the way that you thought. See, one of the things that seems to be typical of introverts on the internet … is that they love the internet because it allows them the time to stop and think things through — to process their own thoughts before being forced to comment. I read somewhere that introverts tend to think, then write, then think some more, then re-write….even doing this for simple things like emails and blog comments! I definitely think this is true for me. Whereas an extroverted person might be comfortable whipping up a random blog comment or email in seconds and sending it into cyberspace without a second thought.”

After reading her email, it all started making a lot more sense to me. (Thanks Sis!)

The online world isn’t making people more extroverted. It is just a place that is a little more tailored to the way introverts behave!

Think about it.

You receive a tweet from a friend on Twitter asking you more of a in-depth question. You know you know the answer, but you need some time to think about it, form the right words, and then you can send something back to them. You think about it for a few minutes (maybe hours if you really want to make sure you are saying the right thing) and then you send it away.

And what does your friend think? Well, they definitely are not feeling awkward that you are not answering right away. I mean you could be busy doing something else that is more important at the moment. All they know is that you did end up sending something to them.

In the real world, that might not work out so great. Say you are at a party and somebody asks you an in-depth question. Are you allowed to say ”Excuse me, let me go think about this for a second and then I’ll come back to you with my answer”.

I mean you could, but you might get a lot of weird looks.

And you can definitely pick the introverts out in a crowded room, but what about online? The line between extroverts and introverts begins to get a little fuzzy. All human beings want interaction at some point. Extroverts are energized by a lot of interaction, and introverts can get drained. So is an introvert with thousands of followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook an oxymoron? I don’t think so…

Introverts just have the opportunity to gain friendships and connections in a way that fits their personality. And what is great about social media is that just because introverts can think about what they want to say to others doesn’t mean extroverts need to. They can type away their thoughts quickly and send to whoever is willing to listen. Social media works with everyone!

“But aren’t introverts less open about their feelings?”

Actually introversion has nothing to do with openness. I’m an introvert and I wear my heart on my sleeve half the time. It’s just, if I want to tell you how I feel, I have to think about how I feel first.

If you want to learn a little more on the true definition of introversion and extraversion according to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, check out their website.

Photo by Ruth L on Flickr