"and so, too, i move toward you..."

[hermionesviolin]

Much though some people may dislike the “beige ringing object,”i have been finding recently that i would much rather talk on the phone with someone than IM. [As a total tangent, the phone at home is white and all the phones at work are black.] In person is obviously the ideal, but it’s just not always possible. I IMed all the time during the school year and was almost never on the phone because no one ever called me and i was too cheap to call long-distance and my on-campus friends saw me in person or on IM enough to not need to call. This summer i much prefer talking to people on the phone than on IM, though. For people i know in real life, that is. I would happily talk to Beth on IM every night. Same for Sharon. But i would much rather have Joe call me than talk to me on IM, which is funny because during the school year it was all about IM. So i am compiling a list of reasons as to why this is, because i find it an odd development.

I can gauge emotion on the phone. I can hear inflection. I have a much better feel for the person than i do on IM.
There is a focus necessary there. You are talking to me. You may put me on hold for a few minutes to talk to someone who just stopped by, but you are talking to me. I am your focus. You can’t just ignore me or forget about me or get distracted without letting me know like you can when you’re IMing. Plus i’m focused on you. Online i may be doing other things or chatting with other people when you IM me. The one-on-one focus goes both ways. Yes, i am an attention whore; i want it to be all about me.
It is much easier for me to babble verbally than when i have to type it all out. I write long-winded livejournal entries all the time; i am tired of typing out everything i do or think. So i am much more likely to talk, period, whereas on IM it’s so easy to be non-talkative.