My Rules in Texting

I am more of texting than talking face to face because, over the years, I have noticed how fluent I can be in my typing and how easily flowing with my conversation is than talking physically. I also noticed how I tend to express myself more when typing as words disappear from my mouth and it makes me feel sad not saying to the extent what I want. I can say I am more of an extrovert in typing and introvert in face to face interaction.

This is why I decline video calls most times with people I interact with except for my siblings who we can video call and say everything we need to say without minding the boundaries, and this is because of how close and related we have been for years. We can talk to a great length and I don't get tired of the conversation.

---

Communication in our daily lives is something we have come to hold dear to our hearts and we want to make sure we have smooth communication with other people we meet every day, be it our friends, colleagues at work/school, at church, at events and every other place. We want to be able to flow freely with each person, but there is always a limit and what we can accept and not accept when it comes to texting online.

Since I tend to enjoy texting a lot, I minimise my chat when it comes to certain people. The way I can text my close friends or siblings can be different from how I text my boss at work, my pastor in church or a stranger I am just meeting for the first time. It also is different with my customers or clients who come to me for help.

When it comes to texting, I love to go straight to the point. For instance, just like the above screenshot, that was a message from a stranger who sent a hello to me this morning and I replied with "hi". The next thing was for him or her to send "Good morning" like really? For over 2 hours now, I haven't replied and will not do so until he or she goes straight to the point of whatever the request may be.

When I am texting someone for the first time, I like including all content which contains a greeting and my reasons for messaging so that I don't have to start sending messages bit by bit waiting for the other person to reply to me. It's always boring and I know not everyone will love such a thing like myself.

---

Apart from being a stranger, I would also love others I am not close to going straight to the point so I will not keep waiting for what's next. I am a busy person that I can even be offline for some hours and I wouldn't want someone to start delaying me when they could have sent everything at once. It irks me!

Another rule about texting for me is to limit the usage of stickers and emojis especially when it comes to trivial conversations. There are some people on my contact lists who tend to cross their boundary with this. I would just let them know about it. If we aren't that close, sending unnecessary stickers or emojis is unacceptable.

When texting, please be clear and concise in your messages rather than beating around the bush. I have had a particular person like that recently and I had to let him know I don't condone such. If you need something, just go straight to the point and stop cutting corners with long words or epistles until you finally come to where you are going. Making it longer doesn't guarantee I'd do it. Just be clear and make me understand your point. Some will say they are shy. You will stay there. Lol

---

Then we have people who shorten texts and do not use proper spelling and grammar. I understand not everyone can write fluently, but please, learn. The world is now technology-based and you can easily search for words online before typing them. I do this a lot. I know my big sister will always correct my spelling and grammar, so before texting her, I would have read and read my text to make sure no errors, and then would I send it.

Don't use all caps for me. So annoying when someone does that to me. Sometimes, when someone texts me, they use small letters to begin the word, then mix caps in between and other words would be in caps. What does that mean? It's always surprising to me and when you tell these people, they aren't ready to change but will come again with the same mistakes.

---

There is one that I dislike and it turns me off completely. This is when you don't know when to text someone. For instance, I have friends overseas and I have studied their time zones with mine. I tend to text when I know they are up and would be online rather than texting in the middle of the night and waiting for their response immediately. The rule here is to be mindful of timing.

I got a whatsapp call at 6 am this morning while observing my devotion from my friend's husband all because he wanted me to get him some Ton from an exchange. He even called me directly but I refused to pick up his call until I was done after some hours. Why would you call someone you barely know at such a time of the day? Some people need to respect other people's time seriously.

Finally, the use of "hey" as the first text. The day a guy used this for me was the last time he ever did that. I told him instantly never to use such a word to me again because it's rude. At least he respected that and changed afterwards. Some would say, "Does that mean anything?" Oh, yes, it means a lot to me. Typing "hey" even if we are close is an impolite way of communication.

Good communication is one important aspect we must be careful with. Being polite in greeting and going straight to the point when it comes to official matters, and just some chitchat with friends and families, respecting boundaries and knowing the kind of content to send are what we should carefully be mindful of so we don't ruin our relationships along the way.

---

^{All images gotten from pixabay:1 || 2 || 3}