In this month’s Concrete Archive, I look back on an issue published on the 13th of November 2002. No time like the noughties, eh? I say this as someone who would’ve been very young for most of it, but nonetheless – it seemed to have been an amazing time to be an adult! Great tunes, funky hairdos, eclectic fashion AND you wouldn’t have to bankrupt yourself on a night out. The ad next to “Generation Text” offered 4 bottles of beer or alcopops for £5, at a bar I assume no longer exists. If they are still running and have kept their prices, then I’d keep an eye out for a naff bar the next time you’re on Prince of Wales Road. Ruth Charnock explores what effects text messaging would’ve had on students at the time, welcoming the reader to the “joy of text”. If only they knew how integral texting would become in our lives (and how complicated it could make situations!)  

Charnock questions whether the new breakthrough of communication was making people “lazy” and argues what drives people to text instead of talk is “fear”. Instinctively, we might be inclined to disagree but how many times has a housemate sent the group chat a passive aggressive text asking everyone to wash their dishes instead of just saying it in person? I don’t think we’re opposed to talking as much as the writer might have predicted, talking isn’t “sooo 20th century” – at least not yet!  

There’s an anecdote from Lisa, a third-year environmental student at the time, who was saying some rather unpleasant things about her housemate and ended up texting it to said housemate instead of her friend! Whilst embarrassing, it’s not quite as incriminating as when you send a screenshot of a message to the person you were talking about. There’s not very much you can to do recover from that either, multiple snakebites might have to be bought to gain the receiver’s forgiveness! To today’s texters, it’s a rookie mistake and one we probably made at the young age of ten or eleven on our first ever phones. Thankfully, we’ve now been blessed with the ability to unsend and delete messages – even if it comes with the risk of seeming suspicious. Attached to the article is a nifty texting guide, although many of us would cringe or scratch our heads in confusion if we were to receive a PCM (Please call me) or a BCNU (Be seeing you) from a mate.  

It’s fun to imagine what we’d do if we all got transported to the past. Would you use up your remaining credit to vote out your least favourite Big Brother housemate? I suppose it’s not all too different from your grandma ringing a number to save her favourite dancer on Strictly Come Dancing!  Advancements in technology always make way for funny mishaps but something tells me your Aunt Sue won’t be letting go of her Nokia brick anytime soon.  

Photo Credit: Concrete Newspaper