I wrote most of this post over a year ago. It is not directed at any one person, but a general trend I am seeing. People, especially Millenials and Gen Z, are using text messages and message apps for all communication, even things that are much better suited for email.
If you ask me a question via a text that requires 3 or more sentences or any level of research, I have a choice to make. I can either:
- Use my fat fingers to construct a detailed message response that would take forever, because I don’t have a real keyboard on hand.
- Respond with “don’t know” or 🤷♂️.
Path number one will take several minutes while I curse at the autocorrect and all the typos I am making. Path number two takes seconds. Guess which path I have been taking for a few years now? The stress-free path.
I often ask if they can email me their request, but after a few times of ignorning this request and texting their (better-suited-for-email) questions, I just respond with 🤷♂️.
I like to help my friends. I respond with clarity to every email. My inbox is always close to zero. Email is the greatest messaging app ever. I can send short or long messages. Attach files. It works on every operating system. Email also has the best search and archiving features.
So if you need a clear detailed answer from me, send an email, otherwise 🤷♂️.
Elyse
Nov 24, 2019 — 11:31 am
Agreed! Another consideration is that once I read the text message it’s no longer flagged as needing a reply. With emails, they remain in my inbox until they are addressed.
Jim
Nov 24, 2019 — 5:26 pm
I especially agree regarding the searching aspect. At most companies I’ve worked at, the easiest way to quickly find information about old projects, documents and events is to search old emails. Even though these companies have good systems for storing documents and files, just saving all emails seems to provide the easiest way to find information such as attached documens and the like. Unfortunately, the IT departments are always pressuring us to delete our emails at the end of the year.