ARE YOU A TEXTING OR EMAILING GHOSTER?
Everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell said the first words ever spoken into a telephone, in 1876, to his assistant, Watson. “Watson, come here, I want to see you.”
What not everyone knows is that Watson took a while to respond. Before answering, Watson went on a walk, had a snack, and scrolled Reddit. Watson posted a selfie on Twitter—which made Bell mad. “If he can tweet, why can’t he call me back?” Bell fumed. Two days later Watson finally replied to Bell, “Lol sorry is this message null? Still need me to come there? Sorry I’m bad at the phone.”
We know how this story ends. Alexander Graham Bell went on to found several industries. His assistant Watson never made anything of himself, and still lives with his parents playing Minecraft.
This story shows us why many people never reach success in personal or professional relationships due to poor attention to messaging etiquette. Maybe this integrity in communication has been driven into me by one once for a lifetime busines and personal coach / mentor/ fixer Richard Condon, who has the distinction of overseeing leadership for Lanmark Forum for decades. I urge you to check out anything and everything he writes speaks or videos. His level of enightenment and purpose in unparralled. With every chasm in text communication, there is a decline in trust with the offending party.
I am not as good at the telephone as Alexander Graham Bell. Yet I know a few things about the phone. And I have a few protocols for 2023:
Text faster Texting with someone should be very similar to talking to them in person. Taking more than 5 minutes to respond without properly excusing yourself is just like walking out of the room during a conversation. If you have to stop texting, give a reason. Otherwise it’s confusing and disheartening. Aziz Ansari points this out:
The Totem of Chat The Totem of Chat should guide us. The Totem of Chat comes from 2012 from the TV show “Girls.” Marnie (Alison Williams) and Hannah (Lena Dunham) scheme to get the attention of a boy who has been ignoring her texts: