Über Takes Have a take
Life · How we actually talk now · Take No. 030

Text or call?

A phone call is a knock on the door you can't ignore. A text is a note you can answer at midnight. One generation thinks the other is rude. Both have a point.

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

Text

Written · asynchronous · on your time

  • 1Record. Addresses, times, what was actually said. A call vanishes; a text is there in March.
  • 0Interruptions. The other person reads it when they're ready, which is the polite default now.
  • EveryoneUnder 40 would rather you text first. Calling unannounced is the new showing up unannounced.
vs
The case for

Call

Live · spoken · two minutes

  • 2 minTo settle what takes forty texts. Plans, misunderstandings, anything with nuance.
  • ToneExists. Half of all text arguments are two people reading the same words differently.
  • RealA voice is a person. Nobody cries on the phone with a friend over a text thread.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's Text, with a rule: anything with feelings gets a call.

The call side is right about one thing that matters: tone. Anything emotional, anything ambiguous, anything that's taken more than ten messages, should be a two-minute call, and the people who refuse to do that are the problem.

But for the other ninety percent of communication, the plan, the address, the 'running late,' text is simply the better tool: it respects the other person's time and leaves a record. Text first, call when it matters.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

Next on the docket

Life · No. 017

Cats or dogs?

DogsCats
Life · No. 018

Toilet paper: over or under?

OverUnder
Life · No. 019

Window or aisle?

AisleWindow