Instant messengers, how come we prefer them over phone calls?
Nowadays, it is not surprising to see couples dating for months and years and not knowing each other’s phone numbers. Try recalling the last phone number you’ve kept in mind. If people use instant messaging apps to communicate, why would they need to know someone else’s phone number?
You can understand that pretty easily, simply by looking at your phone calls that you made in the current year and remember the amount of calls you were doing a decade ago. I bet in one year of using messaging apps you sent more messages than SMS for your entire life. The normal calls, through cellular networks, are getting outdated too, as calls through apps are more flawless and at no cost. The only problem is that you do not have internet connection everywhere while cellular networks are almost ubiquitous.
Asking for the phone numbers is no longer popular, as more people would simply not answer the calls from the unknown phone number. Sometimes, requesting a phone call immediately or a phone number may be considered as being rude or even interpreted as harassment. It is much easier to ask for a tag from the messenger, as you will know who sends you messages and will be able to see his or her avatar. The disclosure of a personal phone number is a private matter now. Some people even have a second phone number for these occasions.
What makes text messaging more popular than phone calls these days?
You can take a pause and come up with a reasoning on your own. For most people, instant messaging apps are better as they allow users to speak with numerous users at the same time, give full control of privacy, block adversaries, and much more. For instance, if you find a grammatical mistake or change your opinion, you have the option of deleting your message for you and for the receiver. Such a thing is impossible in the old, outdated SMS system. You can send a plush pet sticker to the recipient in order to make them feel sensitive or transmit how you feel. Most importantly, you now have the opportunity to continue the conversation with the other party from where you stopped last time and read quickly all the previous messages.
The Internet has given greater flexibility and has blurred the lines of norms of communication. However, on the other hand, it has also added a new norm and forced people to adopt a new ethical system. According to a recent study, SMS communication is preferred over phone calls by the vast majority of individuals, and an even bigger amount of people prefer instant messaging over SMS. This is a trend that is spreading around the world. Surprisingly, more than fifty percent of millennials refuse to speak on the phone, according to recent surveys. Some even say that they do not like answering phones from their relatives. This speaks well that most people do not like unwanted calls or laggy SMS messages. With a messenger used, everything is more neutral, and the user has greater control over the degree of communication.
