Thursday, October 9, 2008

messaging-an addiction

how many messages do you text per day and how many messages fill your inbox in 24 hours...have you ever counted them? i'm sure you will be one among the thousands who have become addicted to texting msgs. and with so many different sms packages provided by the airtel, vodafone, reliance and what not, communication through sms has taken its wildest form specially among the youngsters.

i have a gang of friends messaging me every alternate minute, and the worst part being those msgs will have no meaning, no relevance, nothing and literally nothing. lol..its famously called the "inform all" msgs by our friends circle. the messages wil be of the kind-




  • "suda is eating chicken"-inform all


  • "viswaa has planned to bunk college today"-inform all


  • "deeptha is becoming studious day by day"-infy all


and so many of this kind. it used to be so irritating to recieve msgs like these in the beginning but now, unfortunately or fortunately, i too have become addicted to it. its real fun msging nonsense to a group of friends and getting replies is a even more funny!

and apart from that, the usual gud morning msgs, gud evening and gud nite msgs, forwards, "wat doing" msgs, etc, etc, the list is never ending...and the no. of msgs i send is also never ending..[:P]

i am one of those airtel users with a package having "unlimited" sms and that's really made me an addict to sms-ing. and no wonder it has started bothering my parents too much since the recent past. i know i've been over doing this but as i said, messaging has become an addiction, not only to me but everyone of my age.

well, it has become a serious problem in today's mobile world. i was asked to read articles on this topic(ofcourse, my dad insisted me to) and was shocked to see that there are so many worse cases that you can possibly imagine. "the text messaging syndrome" has hell a lot of consequences that can really shock you. this post is specially to all those who are addicted to msging just as me. just go thru the articles on msg addiction and you will certainly stop or atleast reduce the number of msgs that u send now.



the following passage is from one of the articles i went thru and i felt it might be a start for those who really want to get rid of the "text msging syndrome".


Text messaging syndrome is time consuming and encourages preoccupied conversations which, of course, affects everyone. Emily and David are great friends. As a matter of fact, I'm certain they love each other. However, I have noticed they both experience a common addiction with cell phones.
Numerous teenagers and adults apparently anticipate internal questions such as, "Who has written to me now?" and "How many messages have I received?" Great questions, of course, although I believe it is also beneficial to anticipate everyday moments we often miss. Think about the real beauty of a sunrise, a shower of rain, the fragrance of a flower, a family story passed down to us over time, or perhaps an uninterrupted conversation with your mom.
After an hour’s drive to the airport for my daughter’s return from her spring break to college, I realized the severity of this addiction which I was able to recognize as text messaging syndrome.
She rarely glanced away from her cell phone as she rapidly wrote one message after another. I could not hold my curiosity any longer when I asked, “Do you text message when you’re driving?” Her response, “Yes, but I just use one hand.”
My next question bolted out of my mouth, “Are you able to study, without sending text messages?” “Oh, mom…”
In the event you encounter a teenager or adult with this addiction, I believe it is only fair to share with you the progression of this addiction especially under the best of circumstances.
Evidence of the mild stage of text messaging syndrome is, "It's only 10 cents a message." Although addicting, it sounds harmless with a minimal expense.
Although 300 text messages per month sounds like a lot, her expense was an extra $5.00 per month. Thus, an increasing expense develops into the moderate addiction stage.
Unlimited text messages for $20.00 per month. This option removes the fear of exceeding any limit of text messages, however, this is the severe stage when you realize how much teenagers and adults depend on text messaging.
G. K. Chesterton said, "There is one thing which gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner." Hope for the future is important, however, I am not certain Chesterton was referring to anticipation of the next incoming text message which would, of course, need a response.
I’m older so I don’t text message. Perhaps I felt like an outsider. However, I realized the deterioration of verbal communication skills. Her voice startled me, “Mom, I’m listening” she announced as she began the next text message.
Finally, I had to ask her this question, “Will you regret in one month, six months, or a year from now an ordinary moment when you realize you decided to spend time focusing on the next incoming or outgoing text message rather than spend time with your family and loved ones?” Our conversation began again, although we had arrived at the airport.
Everyday moments are often taken for granted. These seemingly insignificant messages distract our attention from the present; moments that only occur once.



8 comments:

Sudarshan said...

Hahahah! It cant be called as an addiction really! I can control the flow of messages that I send, when
needed! How ever, this inform all thing is so damn hilarious! It was started by a guy in my college!

jayashree swaminathan said...

@ sudarshan: may be it was some guy in ur college to start this thing but namba set le its the great "suda" who started this..ongalukku konjam publicity tharalaame nu dan!

Sudarshan said...

LOL! I'm already famous! :p But anyway, thanks for the free publicity!

Music Personified said...

@jaya: its true but has not gone to the level of messaging while driving and all ... but 1 thing andha article enakku suthama puriyala ..

@sudha : nee chicken saapadaradhu urukke therijavishayam aache da ... there is no need 4 ny publicity da ..

Known Stranger said...

thank god , mobile mania hit us after we were out of college and it was still unaffordable for some time. I am lucky i was not having these issues during my college days. But trust me i still amuse the way my cousins sms with eyes closed. You guys rock on those. I wish voice recognition smsing software hits the market soon so it could help me kind of lazy guys.

jayashree swaminathan said...

@ vaishnav:
hahaha...lucky "U" as u said...we're just wasting so much time on these!

and yea..voice smsing is already in...have u seen the airtek ad on voice smsing? a nice one..:P

Known Stranger said...

am out of India for quite some time and have no idea on air tell advt. i am familiar with touch screen but not voice smsing. have to find

jayashree swaminathan said...

oh okay...thats a news to me!