“Hey! HRU?” Can you guess what this text message abbreviation stands for? It should not be too hard I gave you an easy one. What about this one, “IMO u should CM.” The first abbreviation says, “hey! How are you?” and the second abbreviation translated into normal English states, “in my opinion you should call me.” Cellsigns website tells us that the number of texting messages has grown by 250% each year for the last two years. This large increase in text messaging is not a bad thing for cell phone companies but is it bad for the text massagers themselves?

“I understood the first text abbreviation but I did not know the second,” said Raquel Flores freshman sociology major “I have unlimited text messaging on my phone plan and I definitely need it.”

Text messaging is great for sending a small message back and forth. It also makes no noise, increases the amount of people you can talk to at one time, and is a great work out for our thumbs. The only problem with text messaging is the personal disconnect it causes between people, friends, and family.

“The uncertainty reduction theory, was introduced by Berger and Calabrese. URT, in an over-simplified form, suggests that when a person meets a stranger, in initial interaction, the person hopes to reduce uncertainty about that stranger,” said Communications Professor Mary Lynn Henningsen, “In other words, when we don’t know someone we try to get information about them to make them seem more predictable to us. We do that through a variety of strategies like asking questions, talking with the person about potential similarities, and generally paying attention to the conversation”

The possibilities are endless when you are asking, “How can I speak to someone”; Myspace/ facebook message, e-mail, aim, or sending a quick text are all different and yet modern ways of communicating. In actuality, when we think of our original question, “How can I speak to someone,” none of the possibilities really fulfilled our original goal of speaking to someone. Although in some way, shape, or form we got into contact with them, we did not verbally communicate with one another.

“URT would suggest that people need to reduce their uncertainty about the other person through communication. Although the method of gathering information about others may change, the need is still the same,” said Henningsen “Using unobtrusive methods like facebook allow people to gather information about others without having the same amount or type of initial interaction. The person still hopes to understand the other person’s behavior better. The information being used has just changed.”

Yes, we could just dial his or her phone number and hear his or her voice electronically, but if we have the time to go see and speak to someone physically and verbally why don’t we? Why is that not an option? It is understandable that you will not always be near the person you want to speak with, but have you ever sent a text to someone in the same room as you?

“Sometimes when I text someone that is very close in distance to me it’s just out of laziness,” said Flores “But other times I don’t want to say something out loud so I text it.”

Text messaging has set a new level of communication around the world and, it is not necessarily a good thing. Asking someone on a date, breaking up, and fighting are all things that should not be handled through text messaging. Yet sadly, we all do it. Lets please not let the advancement in technology take away from our natural human instincts such as, speaking to one another.

“Sometimes text messaging gets confusing,” said Christine Laporte freshman speech pathology major ” Because you can’t see the emotion people are using you may think they are saying one thing when they mean another.”

Do not get me wrong, I am a fan of text messaging and all my close friends know it. But I cannot help feeling socially abandoned when I cannot associate the person I am texting. It is surprising the amount of communication loss it has caused. In one week I sent almost 1500 text messages, but probably saw half those people in person.

“My boyfriend lives in Chicago and I go to school in DeKalb when I have the chance I call him but, I still text him all day,” said Laporte “I hold long conversations throughout text messaging; if I were to count the amount I text I send in a week it would be an incredibly large number.”

As a child we were taught to shake hands when meeting someone new. But now, think about it, do you shake ever persons hand you meet at a party? More than often, when I hold my hand out to shake another persons they come off as surprised. Can I use this example and blame the way Americans have grown in communication? Absolutely. Americans have invented this invisible “personal space,” and over time it has grown so large that sending a 160-character text is how we start, continue, and end conversations. Everyone please loosen your belt, sit in the empty seat next to someone on the bus, say thank you when the door is held open for you, and approach the people you want to speak to; lets not hide behind a computer screen or a phone screen anymore.