Dating by Cell Phone

As I sit here staring at a text message I received a few moments ago, I’m wondering if I should respond and how I feel about this question.  Am I feeling very well liked that he would want this, intriguing and interesting to someone who wants to know more about me OR annoyed, disgusted or potentially stalked?  “Do you also have a Facebook page?”  Also being the operative word.

The person texting me is someone I’d encountered online, we’ll call Mr. Nice Guy.  We finally met up a few days ago, and even prior to our date, he’d developed his textversation habit which started out innocently enough. 

The chronic texter always starts off slow with the “good morning, have a good day” and “hope your day is going well” before they become full blown discussions about one thing or the other.   If you just met someone, should you date his Iphone, Blackberry or Droid by texting and e-mailing only or should you work on building that friendship and potential relationship by speaking on the phone only?

A good friend (who makes it annoyingly clear every time we speak that she despises texting) was just asking me last night what the deal was with texting, why not just pick up the phone and call?  I replied sometimes you’re just busy and it’s convenient.  If I’m at work in the middle of something like WORK, a few quick exchanges via text are just fine.  Or if I’m in a public place and don’t need the world to know I just cracked the code to my boyfriend’s voicemail, text messages work well for that. 

Still, I agreed with her that sometimes people get a little carried away with it, adding that certain people shouldn’t text at all – those whose grammar and/or sentence formation isn’t up to par AND people you just met and are still in the getting- to-know-you phase. 

Mr. Nice Guy and I are definitely in the entry level phase and now that I think about it, we have probably only used our phones to talk two or three times, so it’s no wonder my interest level on a scale of 1-10) has gone from a 4.5 to a -3.0. 

Hmm, now that I think about it, he’s been trying to date me by cell phone.  It started out with the messaging back and forth through the dating service, which finally to us exchanging numbers.  Next, he began the textversations, though there were several attempts to reach each other that only met with voicemail. 

Hmm, now that I think about it, he’s been trying to date me by cell phone.  It started out with the messaging back and forth through the dating service, which finally to us exchanging numbers.  Next, he began the textversations, though there were several attempts to reach each other that only met with voicemail. 

NOW he wants to be a Facebook friend.  For WHAT???!!!!  Is this really how friendships and relationships are built?  One text, friend request or Blackberry Messenger at a time?  This sucks.

I could fuss until I’m blue in the face about this new e-style of dating, but I’m guilty for allowing it and doing it myself.  Allow me to break it down for you, the new way of dating which pretty much excludes the need for actual airtime minutes:

This just doesn’t work for me, we’ve got to do better!