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Alex Campbell Interviewed on KGO Newstalk AM 810
February 17, 2009
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Ed: OK, texting is a great communication tool. You can really get stuff done - in it’s place. Now is that place on a date? You’re sitting at the table and you’re with somebody and all of a sudden she or he is under the table and you can feel the thumbs moving or the fingers or whatever. On the KGO live line is Alex Campbell, Chief Executive of Vibes Media. Hi, Alex. How are you?
Alex: I am doing well. How are you?
Ed: I can’t believe we are talking about this. This is really happening, huh?
Alex: It is. It’s here.
Ed: Wow. So you’re sitting at the table having dinner, maybe first date, or whatever, and what is he or she doing?
Alex: Well I think when you think about text messaging think about the passing of notes like you did back in, well not that any of us did that, back in elementary school. Just the idea of getting information quickly and conveniently and sometimes discretely.
Jennifer: Immediately, though, that “He’s just not that into you” comes to mind.
Alex: Yes.
Jennifer: I mean if some guy is sitting there across the table from you, maybe not even says, “Excuse me,” just starts typing away. I would think right there: Bad date.
Alex: Yeah, well it’s definitely not a good thing to be doing on a date, and I think it is one of those things that is seen as a little bit rude. But, at the same time, it is effective in getting information, which is pretty key.
Ed: Well this is an interesting thing because the conduit is the text. So, it is person-to-person communication. I have this argument with people all the time. They say, “Oh, I don’t want to text. It’s not personal.” It is personal.
Alex: It is extremely personal.
Ed: Yeah, texting is personal. But then the conduit is taking your person, you’re talking to a person, you’re bringing a third person into the date. I mean, how rude is that? You wouldn’t have your best friend come and sit down at the table with you.
Alex: Well I think it is only rude if you get caught.
Ed: Oh well. So what do you do then if you’re the textee watcher?
Alex: Well a lot of people actually that I know can now text without even looking at the screen.
Jennifer: Oh yeah!
Alex: They know the layout of the keypad and they can do it very discreetly.
Jennifer: But now I would think, too, it would make me nervous if I were to look across the table at the person. Not only, OK yes, they are having a conversation with their buddy or they are checking the sports’ scores or whatever, but then the insecure part of me would think, “What if he is saying, ‘Oh my gosh, you cannot believe how ugly this girl is,’ or ‘Wow, this girl really dresses really poorly,’ or something, I think it would really cause me some anxiety.”
Alex: Well I will turn that around and say this is kind of the same thing as when you’re on a date and, I’m a guy, and when you’re on a date with a girl, and she gets up to go to the bathroom with her friends. So, it is kind of the same thing.
Jennifer: Oh, we never do that! (jokingly)
Ed: The technology, though has become the key, going back to my conduit. I was in the gym the other day, and there was a woman, who was doing crunches and doing all this stuff all the while on her cell phone. She wasn’t texting. But on her cell phone, and she was starting to talk about her love life and her sex life. And you’re going, “Wait a minute!” You get so into the device you sometimes don’t catch the reality though. Or is that a problem?
Alex: Oh absolutely. And I think that for me, that is one of the benefits of texting, because you are not sharing your life with everyone around you like when you are on a call.
Ed: Yeah, that’s true, too. OK, well, OK, it’s happening. Alex, thank you very much.
Alex: You’re welcome.
Alex: Alex Campbell, Chief Executive, Vibes Media.