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Questions and Answers
Maria: Rory, do you like texting?
Rory: Not really... It's more of a necessity than something desirable. I'd rather spend my time studying or doing something productive... Like that. It just seems like a bit of a waste of time sometimes.
Maria: How often do you write texts?
Rory: Well, despite the fact that it's a waste of time, it seems like I write them once every minute. I think scarcely a day goes by when I don't write a text of some kind. I wish I could take a day off from it, though.
Maria: Why do you send texts?
Rory: Well, usually it's responding to colleagues who have queries or... Oh, or for... My friends and family send me messages a lot as well. Sometimes I'll send them something to keep in touch just while I'm away or something like that.
Maria: Do you use any apps to write texts?
Rory: Well, actually, quite a few, even though I'm a bit of a technophobe sometimes. So I use WhatsApp for general chatting, and Telegram helps me keep track of things related to the podcast. All of our stuff is on there. And we have a we have a Telegram channel for the podcast as well. And and then I use Facebook Messenger just for speaking to people on Facebook and the same for Instagram direct messages, although that's also for talking to people who follow me on Instagram when they don't follow me elsewhere.
Maria: Do you text someone if they don't answer your phone call?
Rory: Um, no, actually, because they can see that I called them. They know that I was after them. So they'll get back to me when they can or if they can.
Maria: Do you prefer sending or receiving messages.
Rory: I suppose that depends on content of the message. But usually... I suppose it's nicer to be sent the text, isn't it? It shows the other person is thinking about you and it's nice to be wanted usually.
Maria: Do you always reply to a text message?
Rory: Uh, most of the time, especially with somebody that I know. I get some texts from random people and maybe spam from companies... So they don't usually warrant a reply, really... I think that's fair.
Maria: In what situations is making a call better than writing a text?
Rory: Um, if it's urgent or an emergency, I think those are the leading factors in that process. Um, more casually, I prefer to speak to my parents over the phone. It's like the olden days and you feel closer to people like that. But generally it's usually better to write a text than to make a call because it's faster.
Maria: Is texting better than calling people?
Rory: Um, I would say probably almost always. Because all the information is there and you can see it, and you can also multitask at the same time as you're looking at a text message, for example. So it's quite efficient and effective this way. Also there's no rush to make a decision! Like, in a phone call. Someone is there live waiting for you to respond. And that can be very pressuring and sometimes you can make the wrong decision. So I would say that it's usually better to text than to call.
Maria: Have you ever received a confusing text message?
Rory: Um, not recently. I think the closest thing I've had to something like that is when I get messages from random people with the wrong number. But even then, that's not confusing because it's obviously easy to understand what the purpose is and what the problem is. It's just not relevant to me. No, I can't think of anything... Sorry.
Maria: Do you receive texts with ads?
Rory: Oh, yes. Most often from my phone service provider, but that's not very often. It's more likely people will call you up with a scam or something, but even then, that's not happened for a wee while. So it's not so bad.
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