Emailing friends versus texting

I’m trying to Make Person-to-Person Email a Thing again. If your message does not require immediate attention, don’t send a text message, WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, or other direct-message. Just send an email.

I appreciate the intent here. But I find myself taking the opposite approach. Email has become a logistical tool for me. Even down to something as simple as writing a greeting and sign off.

For far too long I’ve used this as a device for work communication.

It’s true that I’ve had some friends I’ve communicated with over email, and I appreciate that. But far and away I appreciate text as a form of deeper more meaningful communication.

The very act of not needing to think of a subject line, signoff, greeting, all those things lend themselves to making the medium formal.

Now, with that said, I remember writing letters back in the day. I loved it. I had time to think, react, respond, and pour thought into my words.

I just don’t know if I can go back.

Now, when you have a friend that you write logistical messages to, along with more indepth conversations, I can see how it’d feel off using the same chat window for all of it. The way I get around this is through threaded replies, numbering my responses, and sending voice memos.

I have a few friends that we’ll text on an async cadence of once every week or so. For these awesome folks I’ll often put into my todo manager to respond after I’ve had some more time to think through what I want to say. That way I can “inbox zero” my iMessage, but still make sure I don’t forget to get back to them.

Via Mitch’s Blog.