The Gr8 Db8 II

Rob Horning responds to Louis Menand's text messaging rant:

[Texting] grants us the gift of impersonality, which is not the same as anonymityit’s instead a heightened performativity; the posture of a writer toward a public. It requires us to assume a certain self-centeredness, to be sure, but it also respects the audience as well, in that it doesn’t demand their immediate attention. So I think Menand is totally wrong when he claims that “delay is the only disrespect.” The whole point of texting is that delay is your prerogative. You are not required to hold this radiation-emitting device to your ear waiting for a response.