Text messaging has taken on a new form of seduction and word play. A number of students at Cal State Long Beach said they use text messaging to flirt and entice.
“I flirt with my phone because you don’t actually have to say it verbally,” said Lauren States, a sophomore communications major. “It doesn’t actually have to come out of your mouth.”
Sam Spitzer, also a sophomore communications major, agreed that text messaging is the way to go.
“You can ask your friends, ‘Is this OK to say?’ Guys do it, too. It’s the only way they can ask you on a date,” Spitzer said.
For some students, text messaging is simply a safer form of communication with a person they find attractive.
“If a girl wants to talk to you she can text back. With a voicemail she has to call back and it’s weird,” said Medi Natanzi, a senior construction engineering major. “Texting takes the pressure off. I do definitely need to get to know girls to get to that point to call them and ask them out.”
Andre Gatlin, a sophomore criminal justice major, said he sees text messaging as a way of measuring a person’s interest.
“Well, I can give out a hint message. Depending if a girl texts back and her speed, I can go more into depth,” Gatlin said.
For others, text messaging offers a medium of privacy in public surroundings.
“Sometimes you can’t really talk on the phone. You’re in a meeting or in class, so you text your girl,” said Jose Guevara, an undeclared sophomore. “Everybody does it.”
Still, there are some who see text messaging as too impersonal.
“It doesn’t mean the same thing. You can’t convey emotion like you can with talking,” said Marvin Sola, a sophomore mechanical engineering major.
“I went out with a guy who used to prefer to text me than call me,” said Monica Villarruel, a senior Chicano/Latino studies and health science major. “I’m like, ‘What the hell? I want to talk to you.”
However, even Villarruel agreed that text messaging allows a freedom that vocal communication might not allow.
“When you do that [text message], you’re more inclined to say things that you wouldn’t in person,” she said.
