I would personally say this only works for people you are acquainted with but are not close to. With someone you know well it could actually be their way of not facing up to the awkwardness that would ensue if they called or talked to you irl.

In a recent quarrel about flats my flatmate never once made contact with me face-to-face regarding our disagreements. He would go out of his way to avoid seeing me when he would come back from uni. Even when he was home and I confronted him about it he would be awkward and not talk about it, or he would insist I was wrong and that there was never any disagreement in the first place as if I didn't understand the words coming out of my own mouth.

Then as soon as he left the flat the next day, Whaddya know? he leaves me all these texts regarding the flat that could have been brought up the previous night in person and made the situation so much easier in the first place had he just embraced the awkwardness of that impending conversation in real life.

Sure talking in person or calling on the phone means more awkwardness and fluff, but more often than that it's a better indicator of what you're trying to say than messages or text and it lets you know where each of you stand with each other.

P.s. Idea for drinking game: take a shot every time I say 'awkward' or 'awkwardness' in this post