It’s not to avoid a spam filter. Texting is more considerate than a phone call.
An actual phone call takes time and demands immediate attention. I have to stop what I’m doing now and handle it. If I’m asked about something, I need the answer right away. My phone rings and lets everyone know I have a call.
Texts are quick and I can take some time before answering them. I may not even have to respond except to acknowledge I received the text with a simple “k”. If a question is asked, I can take time to think about it. 90% of all phone calls can easily be handled by texts. Texting take less time for the person you’re texting and are less intrusive.
There are times a phone call is better. For example, you’re colluding to pressure the government in Ukraine to announce they’re investigating your political rival.
Phone calls are good if you want to chew the fat with a friend or you need to discuss something in details and there’s a lot of back and forth. My rule is after three rounds of back and forth texts, it’s time for a phone call.
I have friends who don’t believe in texting as if it’s some sort of religious belief. However, I prefer texting over calls and in this age, texting before you call (or ring the doorbell) is considered more polite.
I don’t filter text messages for the same reason: Texting is not the time suck phone calls are. If I get a spam text, a quick look at my Apple Watch will let me know to ignore it. My phone doesn’t keep ringing until I handle it. I can’t even declare the phone call is spam until I pick up the phone, then it’s too late.
My voice mail instructions even tell people to text me rather than leave a voicemail message. I’ll get back to them quicker because I know what they want immediately rather than having to listen to my voice mails. And most of the time a quick text back is all they need.
This isn’t the 20th century anymore. Texting isn’t an aberration or something those young whippersnappers are doing to make us feel old. It’s the preferred way of reaching out to someone before you make a call.