Texting Messaging

Why do people text message so much? Is it because people need a sense of security, a social connection or just need a distraction from the real world? I believe that text messaging is a distraction because people feel the need to respond to the text message they get quickly that they do not care about anything else around them. People, especially students, text so much because they want to stay connected with friends and family constantly.
Texting is convenient; it helps us to communicate quickly and easily without having to talk. Maybe our society prefers not to talk, as that might be too personal. Texting avoids the personal part of communication, looking at someone or feeling his or her emotions. In the Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2009, the study Impact of Text Messaging on Communication, Heidi Hemmer asks students if text messaging displaces face-to-face communication. The “female focus group did admit to avoiding communication sometimes with text messaging, but the text messages did not displace their face-to-face communication.” In the same study the males felt the same way. People are too lazy to have verbal contact with others and would rather text because it is quick and easy. We do not have to use proper English and can avoid long sentences. People still need the security of our friends and family so texting keeps us connected. It gives us instant gratification and security that we are being included. Does this mean we are insecure? It probably means we are socially doing what everyone else is doing. If there were no texting we would talk on the phone. Texting has helped me let my family know where I am quickly and discretely. To keep it simple, text messaging is a fun social tool that keeps family and friends connected and feeling secure.
Texting is a big distraction and there is no argument against that, it is on the minds of all students everywhere. It distracts us from the things going on around us, like saying hi to people or even maybe thinking about stuff we have to do for school. College students need to text back right away, even when they know not to text while driving or in class. It is like an obsession or compulsiveness. I look at my phone before class then immediately text after my class is over. Even I can feel how hard it is to ignore my phone. In the same study, Hemmer asked if texting was an addiction, both females and males thought that it was more of a habit. Either way text messaging distracts us. What did we do before texting? We looked up at people while walking, we meet people to talk, we called people and we did not constantly look at our phones. Texting is a distraction but that is not really why we text.
We text because its technology that is available, its fun, easy and social. Culturally it is what we do and yes texting can be very distracting but so are all the different technologies.