How Not to Text Like a Jerk

Wtiquette for the Digital Age

I f you came of age in the pre-smartphone era, you already know the basics of phone etiquette. But now that texting and messaging apps have overtaken phone calls as the preferred method of staying in touch, it's a good idea to become familiar with the dos and don'ts of texting as well. Here's how to avoid being the bane of the group chat, telling someone it's funny that their loved one died, and snubbing someone just by letting them see that you read their message!

Don’t Be That Person in Group Texts

Group texts are a great way to coordinate get-togethers or to just keep in touch. But the sheer volume of message notifications can quickly drive people to leave the group. Here's how you can help make group texts pleasant for everyone: • Stay on topic.

Don't send messages that aren't relevant to the purpose of the group. Don't spam the group message with memes, videos, or URLs (unless sharing them is the purpose of the group). • Don’t text unless you have something new to add to the conversation.

Ten people replying, “OK,” does nothing for the conversation, but it does blow up people's phones with notifications. • Take one-on-one conversations out of the chat.

Did you offer to give someone in the chat a ride to the birthday party you're all planning? Sort out the details in a private message. • Don’t start a group text with people who don’t know each other.

Would you share someone's contact information with a person they don't know without their permission? That's what you're doing when you create a group chat among strangers. Unless the purpose of the chat is to bring the people together, don't do it.

Embrace GIFs, Emojis & Textisms

Textisms are the abbreviations, alternative spellings, and non-standard punctuation commonly used in text messages. Along with GIFs and emojis, textisms convey the context that we normally get from facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice when talking in person. While you may want to limit yourself to a smiley face emoji or a single friendly exclamation point when texting an acquaintance or business connection, avoiding them entirely will make your messages seem brusque and unfriendly. On the other hand, going overboard with abbreviations and emojis will make your texts hard to read. Here are a few more points to keep in mind: • When in doubt, spell it out.

Using abbreviations when you don't know what they stand for can lead to a major faux pas. LOL means “laugh out loud,” but more than one person has used it when wanting to send “lots of love” to the recently bereaved. Abbreviations can also make you seem unprofessional when used in business messages. • Don’t be unintentionally unfriendly.

Surprisingly, periods at the end of a text can add a feeling of abruptness and insincerity to the message. On the other