Few fields have made such large advancements as that of communication. From handwritten letters, to emails, to vast social networks like Facebook or Twitter, this is now the era of texting.  Useful to all ages, texting serves as a casual means of conversing.  In some ways, it has revolutionized social behavior, particularly for teens, by eliminating that occasionally awkward ‘telephone’ phase of budding friendships.

There are, however, several common gripes among those who are seasoned texters.

A mere seven percent of dialogue is conveyed by words themselves.  The problem with texting is: all conversation is built upon that seven percent.  As expected, phrases are regularly misinterpreted.  Sarcasm has a tendency to drift toward offensive. Concern comes across as nagging. And sometimes, people just sound creepy.

‘Hey! What are you doing now?’ is completely different from ‘HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?’  The first may be a friendly acquaintance; the second, a hysterical girlfriend.

Texting is informal, unadvisable for certain situations like ending a relationship, or asking someone to prom.  And generally, most feel that whipping out a phone during a face-to-face conversation is rude.

People usually try to provide feedback of an equivalent length to the previous statement.  When someone sends a lengthy, informative text and the you reply with ‘k,’ it’s terribly insulting. To think you couldn’t even have taken the time to type out the ‘o?’

While it’s polite to reply to messages in a reasonable time, if you send out something at 3 a.m., don’t expect any response until morning.

Don’t
be that
person
who sends
a
message
in
30 little
bits.
It’s
obnoxious.

Most of all, it’s important to remember to proofread texts.. Spell check can easily become your worst enemy.