alt Hacker News> Phone calls are really intrusive
I'm generally introverted but somehow prefer phone calls over the alternatives. I don't want to play the "lets discuss where to have lunch over the next two days, waiting for the person to reply / remember to reply" game many people using IM seems to like to play.
Instead, we do a two minute call, hear each other's voice, say everything that needs to be said, save the rest for when we meet. Done and done, then move on with the rest of life.
I don't see it as intrusive at all, even though again I'm introverted, instead I see it as something personal and efficient. Yes, it forces both of us to take time to talk to the other person, I don't necessarily see this as something negative, either way.
Replies
The calls are intrusive because a lots are not actually needed. You can send all the context needed in the first message and then I can reply with the exact answer later on.
I don’t mind if it’s something urgent or you need an answer now. Or just want to do small talk (very close friends). But if it could be a message, just send one.
I see phone calls as intrusive because the person calling you has no idea what you're doing and yet they're interrupting you. I stopped taking phone calls years ago when I realized that anything important enough to warrant an actual interruption can be expressed in a voicemail. 99% of calls I recieve, though, are terminated with no voicemail at all. That's when I realized I can just stop taking phone calls.
Of course your opinion is valid, but I feel like you're only talking about calls with people that are close friends, which is a tiny minority of calls I get.
In any case, the people I chat with tend to respond in minutes, not days, so I don't have any anxiety about the conversation going on for a long time when we were trying to arrange something simple.