Stop callin’, stop callin, I don’t wanna talk anymore…

Lady Gaga hit the nail on the head: no one wants to talk anymore. Instead, we are so caught up in our multiple ways of communication that involve, let’s face it – VERY LITTLE actual interaction, that we have become lazy communicators.

I do it. Chances are you do it too. I text. I instant message. I Blackberry Messenger. I Skype, Facebook, and Tweet. When I’m forced to, I email, but even that’s a bit annoying.

But rarely, if ever, do I call. Unless we’re family or really good friends, chances are you won’t hear the sound of my voice unless we get-together, which I’m happy to plan via one of the methods described above.

I’m not alone in this, which is what provoked this post. I’ve had many conversations about this lately: no one calls anymore. Calling is an intrusion. It’s just not socially acceptable. If for some reason you do want to call, you need to text to make sure a call at 8 m will suit my schedule. If it’s not convenient, we’ll text back and forth to set-up another time that might work better. Then you’ll call and something unexpected will have come up and I won’t answer and back to square one we go.

What is it with us? We are so advanced technologically, we praise ourselves on being able to communicate in pretty much every way short of ESP (I’m sure there is an app in development for that) but we don’t use our voices, our unique intonation, our distinctive inflection, to connect.

OK – remember that line from He’s Just Not That Into You? Please don’t hold this against me but it really sums up everything I’m thinking in a concise and amusing way:

“I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It’s exhausting.”

What’s your take on the topic? Does the telephone feature on your smartphone gather dust or is your speed-dial filled with numbers? Feel free to share your thoughts below, but please, no calls.

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