Due to my recent decision to add unlimited text messages into my monthly cell phone plan, constant choices between sending a text and placing a phone call have been bugging me. I am going to examine two instances over the past several days where I have cancelled plans—however, the first instance was through a text message while the second was via a telephone call.
Some of my friends and I had brunch plans on Sunday at 12:30pm, but I realized I had a radio DJ training at 1pm, so I texted one friend, Lily, with “can’t do brunch today. don’t miss me too much”, where I shortly received the blunt reply “k”. I believe this is pretty consistent with both the Media Richness Theory and O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model. In my humble opinion, my text message was very clear, and it did not need further non-verbal cues to be understood. Canceling my brunch plan is a very unambiguous, equivocal task—and even though it has a slightly negative valence with a locus on myself but no real, serious emotions were at stake here. The brunch plan involved a small group of people—so my not being present did not have a crucial effect on the events at hand, or need explaining.
The second instance of conscious medium choice was when I called my friend Alex to tell him I could not attend his transhumanist club meeting. It was the first meeting of a club he had just organized and received university affiliation for—he was pretty attached to this meeting and I told him before that I would attend. Additionally, my reasons for not attending are not entirely concrete. Essentially, I was very busy. I had to pick up a new book from a store, pay my rent, do some assignments, and well, take a nap. Thinking about the situation, my primary reason for calling Alex was to soften my negative self-focused “confession”-type communication and emphasize that I would come to his next meetings to make up for my actions. All this would have been too length and less personal in a text message. This experience perfectly falls into O’Sullivan’s model, and because I was attempting to add ambiguity to my actions—trying to seem like an ambiguous flake rather than an obvious flake—it falls in with the Media Richness Theory. There is one aspect of this experience that I find interesting; I almost sent a text message purely because I was so busy, but I realized that I cared too much about upsetting him. I guess, appropriately, if one doesn’t care about the impression he or she will make, the models will become less relevant.
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There have been so many times where I have been in the same situation. Debating whether to use text messages or just call is a daily dilemma for me. In most cases for me, I tend to use text messaging out of convenience and also because either I am in class or the person I need to get in contact with is in class. Like Professor Hancock mentioned in class, many times I just don't feel like going through the formalities of greeting people and making small talk, just to cancel a lunch.
Another reason I would use text messaging to cancel over calling is if I don't have that good of a reason and I'm just being a flake. There have been times where I just do not feel like meeting up with a friend, so I text them saying I am sick and can't make it. This way, I don't have to fake sounding sick and they don't get offended for me canceling on them. I think in both your cases, you chose the right channel of communication in terms of media richness/leanness.
Hey Robert. I thought that the two instances of when you had to choose to text or call are similar to situations that I go through everyday. In the second instance you described, you talked about how you called in consideration of your friend’s feeling. During the school year, I find that sending a text is usually the most logical means to communicate on campus considering that people are usually going to class or studying. When I am on campus, I usually only call in a situation similar to the one you described, when it is just inappropriate to text. My reasons for texting are usually in-line with the Media Richness Theory. I do it for efficiency and convenience. When I call, it seems like the O’ Sullivan theory applies more. I do it so that my friend’s won’t think I am a jerk who doesn’t have the decency to call when I have to tell them something they might not want to hear.
Another thought that you kind of mentioned but is not really covered by either of the theories is the fiscal factors. For those of us without good cell phone plans, texting can be expensive. While I think texting is convenient and efficient, I know plenty of people who get mad when you text them too much. For some this is not a factor but for those who pay their own bills this is something that you must consider. I wonder if any of the theories incorporate the expense of using certain kinds of mediums.
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