Have you ever read someone’s text and instantly thought they were giving you an attitude? You look at their wording, and you’re wondering if you should just shut off your phone or defend yourself. Maybe you take the path of defending yourself and then realize they meant no harm in what they were saying. I have lost count of the number of times this has happened to me. This is just one example of why texting is not the best form of communication. Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you get through this type of communication safely.
DO: Text when you have something quick to say rather than a phone call.
I come from a close family. We talk on the phone all the time, and if we don’t, it’s because someone is really busy. I call my mom at least once a day to tell her how everything is going. What I have learned over the years of being away at college is that you don’t need to call your mom for every small thing. She will tell you to just text her, especially if it’s about what you ate for lunch that day.
DON’T: Argue over text.
Arguing over text is a disaster. You can never read someone right, and you may take something they say to heart when that wasn’t what they meant. Texting has no specific tone. If you can avoid an argument over text, give the person a call to work it out. When you make a tone for texts, it can cause drama that was never needed, like in the introduction paragraph to this article.
DO: Stay in touch.
A nice text can go along way. If you send a sweet text to someone randomly, it will most likely make their day. We all have pretty busy lives. I know that if I was having a bad day, and one of my friends randomly texted me something nice, it would put me into a much better mood. Texting can also help you stay in touch with people you aren’t very close to because it is quick and easy to say, “Hey, hope all is well!”
MAYBE: Read receipts.
I personally love read receipts, especially with my parents. They may not have time to answer me back, but I know they got my message when it says, “read at *blank*”. This can be helpful for when I need them to know something very soon but don’t necessarily need a reply. Read receipts can also be a bad thing in my opinion. I am sometimes not the best texter. I may open someone’s message and then get distracted with something else. I do have my read receipts on for most of my friends because I want them to know that I got their message, even if I can’t reply right away. So, if I have ever left you on read on, I definitely didn’t mean to!
Additionally, don’t forget to re-read your texts before you send them! Autocorrect is a horrible thing sometimes!
Happy October!