Remember the old days when you would pick up the phone or mail a letter if you wanted to get in touch with someone? With upgrades in technology, you'd think making contact would be much easier. In many cases, it is, but the upgrades have also created a world of impatience, especially among the younger generation.

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To check your e-mail, you no longer have to be at your desk; you can be notified on your cell phone every time there's a new item in your inbox. Sending messages back and forth to friends and family is as easy as logging on to Facebook or shooting out a quick text. For that reason, many people have come to expect an "instantaneous response" to every message they send into cyberspace.

Rutgers University sociology professor Deborah Carr said there are a number of reasons why these instant responses aren't always possible. For starters, the receiver of that message may not be in a position to answer. They could be in the car, at a meeting, or even sleeping.

"Another reason is that the request or query someone is sending you might actually require some thought," Carr said. "It might actually require someone constructing a proper English sentence."

Also, it's important to note that a recipient's dependence on technology may not be as strong as that of the sender. While one person checks their voicemails or email once every half hour, for others, it could be once a day.

Carr said it would be a good idea for people to let others know which form of communication they prefer and with which form they'd respond the quickest. If you're one of those people who get frustrated after a few hours, or minutes, of no response, Carr suggested you just pick up the phone.

She added, "If you think about how many emails most of us get in a day...Sometimes your message is just going to get lost in the fray unless you do something to flag it."

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