The latest trend in technology is slower texting, and it genuinely has its reasoning.

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      Why are individuals voluntarily communicating through digital pigeons, snails, and penguins?

      For years, technology has focused on speeding up communication. Now, it seems we've reached our limit. As reported by The New York Times, the latest trend is slow tech, featuring applications such as Carrier Pidge and Roost, which intentionally delay messages for minutes, hours, or even longer. Yes, we're referring to digital carrier pigeons. Since its launch in April, Carrier Pidge has grown from a few hundred users to over 75,000, while Roost has reportedly been downloaded 650,000 times this month.

      Apparently, patience has become trendy again.

      Carrier Pidge allows users to send messages via a digital pigeon whose journey can be tracked on a map. Its speed is modeled after real racing pigeons, reaching up to 110 mph, and there's a small 0.2% chance that your bird might go missing, requiring a 99-cent fee for a replacement. Roost expands on this concept, providing more than 1,000 different animals, including pigeons, penguins, and snails that move at a comically slow pace.

      The attraction isn't so much about the animals; it’s the waiting involved. Instead of receiving instant notifications demanding immediate attention, you actually have to wait for a response, which might be more significant than we realize. Research suggests that frequently checking your phone in quick spurts can be more mentally exhausting than using it for an extended period. Noah Iarrobino, the 29-year-old creator of Carrier Pidge, previously developed an app that charged users 99 cents every time they hit the snooze button, while Logan Mendelsohn, the creator of Roost, comes from the trust-and-safety tech sector and is considering hiring as the app continues to grow.

      Perhaps our phones have become too proficient at their job.

      There might be some validity to the absurdity of it all. A 2023 survey indicated that 80% of Generation Z adults, defined as those born after 1997, felt their generation was too reliant on technology. Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, contends that our brains are not built for a completely frictionless environment where information arrives faster than we can comprehend it.

      People are not just accepting the slowness — they are welcoming it. One user told The New York Times that she and her friends even began writing to each other in an eloquent, Bridgerton-style language, addressing each other as "my dearest lady."

      After years of making communication faster, maybe the next groundbreaking feature will indeed be the art of waiting. And honestly, if sending a message by pigeon is what’s needed to make our phones feel a bit less overwhelming, perhaps the birds shouldn’t be dismissed just yet.

      Varun is a seasoned technology journalist and editor with over eight years of experience in consumer tech media. His work encompasses...

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