2013-06-04

The Texting Game

Put the phone down and step away. You should remain silent because anything you say or do in the texting game will be used against you in the court of women’s opinion. If you can’t afford a lawyer, it doesn’t matter because a lawyer cannot get you out of the hole you put yourself in after a horribly timed and nonsensical text. This is the texting game; all judgements are final.

What is the texting game you ask? It is the new medium of courtship. It is where “lol” and “hahaha” are cherished and anything less than a :-) are :-( upon. It is where words are at a minimum and body language is non existant, but where people try to extract the most meaning. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well a text is worth a thousand meanings.

A text is not like any other form of communication. It is condensed and therefore concise, but can have as much impact on someone as an hour long conversation. It is used to gain attention but carries with it harsh judgement for those inexperienced. If there is one unwritten rule of texting, it is you can’t text back right away. What is “right away?” It is usually between one second and five hours all depending on the situation. If this doesn’t make sense to you then you have a lot to learn.

The texting game is not very hard to play. Once you have a few rules down it becomes easier. But in what ways has the text game always been a part of society? Looking to the past, the text at one time was the traditional love letter. Just as with a text, the letter is read, thought about, and the sender waits some type of reply. Taken further back in the past, it is a message from a messenger. In both of these instances, as with texts, sometimes there is no reply. Time to get your game up at that point.

From love letters to texts to everything in between, this succinct form of romantic communication is short but powerful. I do appreciate that in one text lies myriads of meanings, an abundance of creativity, and something that is equally profound as it is misunderstood. Is there anywhere else where else can you find all these elements at once? Well, maybe ancient prehistoric rock art.