Text Is Much Richer

A remarkable statement: "Text chat is much richer [that talking]. It’s much easier to be vulnerable in writing, to have thoughtful responses, to ask disarming questions. You have a moment to think, to compose yourself."

That posting, in the blog fenced lot [sic], is nominally about the web service Chat Roulette. That service creates an opportunity for random audio/video/text chats with strangers, much as you might have while waiting at an airport or train station. As interesting as random connections with strangers may be, I am more forcefully impressed with a comment praising the richness of writing.

I have missed the art of the letter, particularly in business communications. Email, text, twitter have tended to shorten response time. Replies have tended to be immediate reactions rather than thoughtful response. Dumb things are said, in text, which are difficult to take back or dissemble. Innocent remarks are misconstrued as willful sleights.

"Text chat is much richer." How can it be ? It is, perhaps, an evolutionary or developmental response. We have become assimilated to the intensive modern flow of information. Between all the devices, services and screens that surround us, we have learned to tune out much of the noise. We selectively hear and see only that which is of personal importance. Much like living next to a freeway. After a while you simply no longer hear the traffic.

In comparison to that incessant barrage of high volume, rapid-fire information, a text chat now seems positively leisurely, a chance to compose one's thoughts.