Narrative:

We flew the ZZZ RNAV Y runway xx approach twice and went missed approach both times due to weather. After the second missed approach approach control did not have a clear plan to start using the ILS runway X and we did not have enough fuel to wait any longer; so we diverted to ZZZ1; which was listed as our first alternate on the dispatch release.ZZZ-ZZZ1 is a very short flight in busy airspace; requiring a lot of attention and setup in the FMS. After a few minutes I sent a text message to dispatch notifying them that we were diverting to ZZZ1. We then received several text messages from dispatch regarding the need to discuss and agree to a diversion airport; amend the release; fuel remaining; and contacting ZZZ1 station.our text-based communication system is slow; tedious; and simply takes too much time and attention away from higher priority tasks of flying and navigating the airplane during a very busy time. It was extremely frustrating that dispatch seems to think we should just drop everything we are doing and engage in a text conversation with them; hunting and pecking on a keyboard; instead of getting set up for an approach and flying the airplane in a busy terminal area.we landed in ZZZ1 and parked at the gate and I spoke to dispatch on the phone. We were not able to communicate with dispatch in a timely manner to discuss our diversion and amend the dispatch release.dispatchers rarely get to witness from the jumpseat missed approaches and diversions in busy airspace; so I don't think they realize how slow and impractical it is for pilots to text with them during very busy situations. Dispatchers should recognize that some diversion situations are much busier than others and limit their communication to simple messages such as 'we see that you are diverting; contact us when you can.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-175 Captain reported that a text conversation with Dispatch resulted in a high workload during a diversion.

Narrative: We flew the ZZZ RNAV Y Runway XX approach twice and went missed approach both times due to weather. After the second missed approach Approach Control did not have a clear plan to start using the ILS Runway X and we did not have enough fuel to wait any longer; so we diverted to ZZZ1; which was listed as our first alternate on the Dispatch release.ZZZ-ZZZ1 is a very short flight in busy airspace; requiring a lot of attention and setup in the FMS. After a few minutes I sent a text message to Dispatch notifying them that we were diverting to ZZZ1. We then received several text messages from Dispatch regarding the need to discuss and agree to a diversion airport; amend the release; fuel remaining; and contacting ZZZ1 station.Our text-based communication system is slow; tedious; and simply takes too much time and attention away from higher priority tasks of flying and navigating the airplane during a very busy time. It was extremely frustrating that Dispatch seems to think we should just drop everything we are doing and engage in a text conversation with them; hunting and pecking on a keyboard; instead of getting set up for an approach and flying the airplane in a busy terminal area.We landed in ZZZ1 and parked at the gate and I spoke to Dispatch on the phone. We were not able to communicate with Dispatch in a timely manner to discuss our diversion and amend the Dispatch release.Dispatchers rarely get to witness from the jumpseat missed approaches and diversions in busy airspace; so I don't think they realize how slow and impractical it is for pilots to text with them during very busy situations. Dispatchers should recognize that some diversion situations are much busier than others and limit their communication to simple messages such as 'We see that you are diverting; contact us when you can.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.