I will admit, I am a terrible texter. I don’t know why but I can never seem to carry a conversation through text for over five to ten minutes. I don’t know if it’s because I’m awkward or because the other person is disinterested, but I’m not one to have a conversation over text. I would rather call people or use Snapchat to communicate with my friends because sending photos with captions seems to carry off a conversation more than just sending texts back and forth.
After high school, I was worried I would be disconnected with my friends because I barely texted anyone back then. I don’t text a lot of people now but I believe I’ve gotten better at it! Because I am not a huge texter, I tried other ways to communicate with my friends my freshmen year of college. I’ve found more ways to communicate with them and honestly I love using different methods more than texting!
I don’t know if there are others like me who don’t like to text so I wanted to share other ways you could communicate with your friends.
The first thing I started doing my freshman year of college was writing letters to my friends. I always have so much to say and there’s something about writing letters that is so special. I sent my friends letters every month and just updated them on my college life. You’ve probably heard that snail mail is old-fashioned but there’s always something so exciting about checking the mail and seeing a letter with your name on it. No matter how short or long the letter is, it’s meaningful and so fun to read. I’d recommend people who enjoy writing to try sending their friends letters because I know my friends love receiving them, especially when they weren’t aware I was going to send them one.
The second thing I’ve done daily since high school is use Snapchat. I know almost everyone uses this app but I prefer using it over texting anyday. I enjoy seeing my friends’ reactions when I tell them stuff rather than picturing what their reaction would be. It seems more genuine to me and just sending pictures without words is more fun. I like sending vlogs and having mini conversations throughout the day about random stuff. I am one who tries to keep streaks so I try to continue conversations as much as possible because Snapchatting is my form of texting.
The third thing I do is send video messages through an app called Marco Polo. Marco Polo is a video messaging app where you can send videos back and forth with friends and family. The videos are saved after they’re sent so you can always look back at old messages you and your friend sent to each other. It’s fun when you’re in the middle of sending a video and the person you’re talking to is watching you live while you’re talking. You can’t see them reacting but I really enjoying sitting down and sending vlogs to my friends about how my week has been going.
The fourth thing I use to communicate with my friends is just calling them through FaceTime. I believe you guys can sympathize with me because FaceTime has been one your best friends since the pandemic started. I started using FaceTime every week during the weekends to catch up with my friends and love when hours pass without me or my friend noticing. I could be on a call for over three hours and not want it to end. I still FaceTime one friend a week to see how they are because having a weekly conversation is comforting. Most of my best friends are out of state so having FaceTime to connect with them is really meaningful. I know that the conversation I had over the phone would never be the same if I had it through text. I don’t know why but I like talking out loud more than typing what I want to say.
The fifth thing I do to have small conversations with my friends daily is sending them TikToks. Some of my best friends don’t have the app and I know they always enjoy seeing cute, random, and funny videos. Whenever I see one that makes me laugh so hard, I immediately share the link to them because I know they’re going to like it too. They always text me back with emojis and tell me to send them more whenever I’m scrolling on my For You page. Whenever I saw a new trend, especially the videos about Harry Potter and new iOS 14 homescreens, I sent some to my friends to see what they thought.
These are the five ways I have been communicating with my friends throughout college and if you’ve never tried writing letters or using Marco Polo, I definitely recommend you give it a try! I know using Snapchat and Facetime are popular apps people use but you never know, you may find another way to talk to your friends!