How Will Texting Teenagers Fare in Future Business Communications?

It’s typical today to see a crowd of teenagers sitting together, and at least half of them sticking their noses into their cell phones while texting someone. In fact, most teenagers are becoming more comfortable with texting as a way to interact than actual face-to-face conversation.

Teenagers have embraced text messaging as their main form of communication. According to a study by Pew Research Center and the University of Michigan, texting has overtaken every other form of interaction – including instant messaging.

If teens are texting more than they are communicating, how will they then perform when they enter the world of business communications?

Communication Blocks

This generation may be technologically savvier than their bosses, however, that won’t matter if they can’t hold a professional discussion face-to-face, or close a deal over the phone. And according to experts, there is a risk that they won’t be able to.

“We are losing very natural, human, instinctive skills that we used to be really good at,” says Sonya Hamlin, author of How to Talk So People Listen: Connecting in Today’s Workplace .

According to Hamlin, teens are losing verbal communication skills, which will put them at a disadvantage when they enter the workplace. Because they have an unlimited amount of time before they respond to a text, they aren’t practicing communication skills that eventually develop into business communication skills, such as how to deliver an “elevator pitch” or sales pitch.

Texting Tolls

Studies have also demonstrated that excessive texting can lead to social disorders such as anxiety. In a recent Public Radio International interview, MIT social studies and technology professor Sherry Turkle said that, “constant texting is causing anxiety, sleep, and relationship problems in teenagers.”

Turkle also added that because of constant texting, teens were developing poor phone manners. This puts teens at a big disadvantage for the future; when it comes to job interviews, business phone calls or videoconferences, will these young professionals have the skills to participate?

Texting doesn’t fit in the business world. The latest technology in business telecommunications all includes a common characteristic: communication. Whether you are talking using a business phone system, having a video conference using VoIP or even conducting a web conference, you need to know how to verbally communicate. No texting allowed.

About the author: SJ enjoys writing about cutting-edge resources in the business industry. Office paperless systems, card processing services, and surveillance systems are just a few products she’s written reviews on.

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