It’s not always easy to get an honest perspective on life.
more technically incorrect
Today, it moves so fast that we feel like it’s dragging us along.
Technology, of course, bears considerable responsibility. It was created to make things faster. It is made to increase the pulse and activity of our brain. It was made to destroy life as we know it.
And so begins my lecture on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of SMS. Well, on December 3, 1992, 22-year-old software architect Neil Papworth texted his colleague Richard Jarvis some heartfelt feelings.
The inscription reads: “Merry Christmas.”
Well, Papworth is British so you know, don’t expect too many intense emotions, unless it’s about Europe.
Here we are, then, 30 years later. We text, we text sex, and we get angry all the time. However, how has texting changed civilization?
Conveniently, I have before me the results of a survey made by Infobip. This claims to be, with a sigh, “the most connected cloud communication platform in the world.”
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Doesn’t that just roll off your tongue and onto your keyboard?
However, I will tell you that Infobip is a Croatian company. My closest contact there, Dario Vince, creator of the amazing new TV series urbantell me Infobip is an extremely respected company in that country.
But what about Infobip’s research into texting?
Perhaps many of the outcomes are predictable. Only 45.2% of Americans admit they have had sex. 54.8% of Americans want to speak with their attorney first.
And do you believe that only 27% of millennials admit they sent a text from a funeral? Funerals are actually pretty dull, aren’t they? However, only 22% of Gen Z-ers and 12% of Gen X-ers admitted to having done the same. Only 2% of boomers have kept up with this deadly trend.
But I am most interested in human relationships. They reveal a lot.
So I dive into the darker details and find myself crying for the future of our species.
I’m happy that only 14% of boomers admit they’ve had sex. But then my heart immediately skipped a beat when I learned that 45% of Gen Z-ers were dumped by texting.
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No one likes to be left out and most people are actually very cowardly. But being left out by texting seems to offer the perfect combination of cowardice and heartlessness. You can think of almost exactly the definition of Silicon Valley.
However, consider how difficult the road to love really is today. Everything is fine and then, with a ping of the phone, you fall into despair.
Apparently, this is something only 4% of boomers have experienced. This may begin to explain why they don’t understand young people at all.
Please don’t worry, though. I have worse for you. Much worse.
For this survey it was found — and I recommend this phrase — that 26% of millennials have been proposed via text.
Yes, I said recommend to.
Well, as in the proposal, the heavenly fusion of two lonely creatures finally found each other on a dating app.
Now I ask you to consider what is wrong with this world. You want to find the right time, the right atmosphere, the right method to propose to your lover.
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So you text them.
Remarkably, I can still give hope. Only 17% of Gen Z-ers say they’ve been proposed to via text.
But they’re still kids, aren’t they? What if they haven’t grasped the proposal? What if the new, truly loving proposal is really about texting your forever feelings?
We’re done, I tell you. Was made.
