How to Stop Talking To Your Friends

by CoastalGuy

With the advent of social media, there are so many outlets (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, texting, email, the soon-to-be obsolete fax) that there is almost no need to connect face-to-face anymore.

What hath technology wrought?

Time magazine reported that Americans sent 110 billion text messages last year (that's billion with a b, folks!), which is double the number from the previous year. And like a virus, it keeps growing. True, teens account for the largest increase, mainly because they can communicate without being overheard, but every demographic shares in the texting phenom.

We've become humanoids. Or rather, iPeople with gadgets seemingly glued to our hands. Texting has become so popular that a new slang has emerged ("c/t" = can't talk; "c2tc" = cut to the chase; "cu l8r" = see you later; et al.) In one case, a student handed in an assignment written in it.

But even the older generation has fallen under social media's spell and has quickly joined the ranks of Facebook. With any new technology, mishaps in communication are bound to happen. I'm sure people back in the day faced their own etiquette issues with the emergence of the telegraph.

But should you make a concerted effort to only text your friends, here are a few tips even Emily Post would approve of.

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