Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Texting Etiquette

Rebecca does this thing that drives me insane and I can't get her to stop doing it because I think she mostly does it just to drive me insane.

To explain what this thing is, I'll just give you an example. Let's say that Rebecca wants to send me the following text message (which text message she has sent before):

1. Eli, I need help right away. There is a dog in my yard. I can't go outside. Also I think I accidentally invited a homeless man to live with me. He took my car to run some errands. That was on Tuesday.

As you can see, the above blathering can very simply be sent in one text message. But Rebecca seems to think that texts have a very strict character limit. Because the above message will be sent like this:


1. Eli.

2. Hey.

3. Help.

4. I need help.

5. Dog.

6. There's a dog.

7. In my yard.

8. A dog in my yard.

9. Help.

10. I can't go outside.

11. Help me.

12. Where are you?

13. I invited a homeless man to live with me.

14. It was an accident.

15. Where is my car?

16. I can't find my car.

17. The homeless man took it.

18. On Tuesday.

19. My gluten allergy is real.

So instead of getting all of that nonsensical information in one concise message, my phone buzzes NINETEEN times within one minute. This will usually happen when I'm in a meeting or driving or trying to sleep BECAUSE IT'S 4:30 IN THE MORNING!!!

And then, in my rage, I will forget to respond to the substance of the texts because I'm too busy yelling at Rebecca about text etiquette.

I'll call her and scream into the phone, "WHY ARE YOU SENDING ME SO MANY TEXTS WHEN YOU COULD HAVE COMMUNICATED ALL OF THAT IN ONE SENTENCE!?!?!"

Frustratingly, she will usually respond, "huh? I don't do that." Even though SHE JUST DID THAT.

The other day I sent Rebecca a text to see if she wanted to come over and watch The Good Wife with me and Wade. Then I tried to take the opportunity to point out her problem because she started doing it again (although, not nearly as bad as usual).



Any other texting faux pas that drive you insane?

~It Just Gets Stranger

42 comments:

  1. I probably have the opposite problem...mine are usually too long. Also, I never even bother to correct any errors made by autocorrect. So people have to figure out what I am trying to say...I feel that I am doing them a service by keeping that brain muscle working hard. You're welcome!

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  2. I don't have texting faux pas because I refuse to use anything but proper spelling and grammar. I use apostrophes, commas, semi-colons, etc. Of course, that makes it hard to have debates or arguments with people online. Which is also good. (I do, however, use emoticons. However, as an engineer, I debate how to nest them with parentheses. For example, do I end this paranthetical with :)) or :) ) or ) :). It's so confusing!

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    1. Don't do :)) because if it makes the actual face then it's laughing. Learned that the hard way.

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    2. Or it has a double chin

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  3. I hate when people improperly punctuate, especially when they use [...] (or even more dots!) to convey a break instead of just using a freaking period. I have family members who do it all the time and it drives me crazy. Example: "Hey I'm in town............ the weather is nice........... do you have plans this evening."

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    1. UGH THAT BUGS ME SO MUCH. I'm trying to be an editor, and people who send me requests to edit their manuscripts who do that in emails bug me so much. The ellipsis has a proper use! Anymore than three isn't needed (and frankly, will not be tolerated)(also: not counting the period that can end the ellipsis. that is a fourth dot that is needed BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE ABOUT TO START A NEW SENTENCE). Mom says that it makes me very hard to deal with, but seriously. If you're trying to become an author, you should make an attempt to learn your trade.

      And, like, the older relative who use the VERY WRONG ellipsis make me laugh, because they're the people talking about how 'uneducated' this generation is. I've known what an ellipsis was since third grade, and I've never been docked points because of a wrong usage.

      Sorry. I don't think I've ever ranted on Stranger. But this is the only thing that will make me stop being nice and start ignoring you completely. Unless, ya know, you're not as educated as I am and you don't say rude things about younger people. Then it's tolerated because you don't know any better. BUT ONCE YOU START SAYING RUDE THINGS... it's over. (btw, that was proper ellipsis usage anyone who was wondering.)

      *flips table*

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    2. I feel like I should say this just in case: This is a casual conversation, I use 'like' a lot. But if you're curious, feel free to send me an inquiry, I promise all unneeded likes will be omitted. And any other 'non-professional' ways of typing (I can have a personality too!).

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    3. Like, what if it's a really long pause that I'm trying to convey? Sort of like...umm.......................................................oh, I know....if I'm thinking of something for a really long time. Like when I ponder stuff......................you have to convey this kind of information when you're writing things out.

      ;)

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  4. When people excessively use "lol". Especially when nothing is funny. For example:

    Me: Where are you?
    Them: Work lol
    Me: What time are you off?
    Them: 5:30 lol

    It's not funny.

    Also, people who use "LOLOLOL". It doesn't even make sense.

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    Replies
    1. I always like to imagine that the additional "OLOL" is an echo of the first. I imagine them screaming "LOTS OF LAUGHS" so loudly that you can hear an eternal regression of "of laughs of laughs of laughs."

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    2. YES! In general, I really dislike LOL and just never use it. Mostly because I see it and I don't read it as "L.O.L.", I read it as a word- loll. And then (because I'm a terrible person), I imagine when it's said it sounds someone suffering a stroke with only partial use of their face trying to alert you to a lion sneaking up behind you by shreiking it at you. So a jungle stroke, I guess.

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    3. I hate that too. It's like they're using lol in place of a period.

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    4. I'm also not an "lol" fan, but I do get a chuckle out of a well-placed "lolsies" every now and again, mostly because it's fun to say. Try it.

      Also, I think LOLOLOL is more of a word menu. It may mean "laughing out loud" or a host of other options. Example:

      Lint or lucre or laughing out loud

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    5. My son read in a Weird But True book that somewhere else in the world, I don't remember where though, uses ha3 instead of LOL. I like that much better.

      ha3 = ha ha ha

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    6. Hashtag lolololololololololololol

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    7. What about stuff like, LOLWTFBBQ, or LOLOMGWTFBBQ, or the really big ROFLMAOOMGWTFBBQCOPTERCAKES? Like is something is REALLY funny. You could even begin it with Totes. Like:
      "That is TOTESROLFMAOOMGWTFBBQCOPTERCAKES FUNNY!!!"

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    8. I'm really late to the party, but I only use LOL like these guys - hashtag LOLOLOLOL *deep breath* OLOLOLOL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dzaMaouXA

      Delete
  5. My sister texts me literal novellas. several in a row. I can't even finish reading the first one before she sends another. But when I reply, it take her hours to answer me back. Sometimes they are so long that my phone automatically splits them up into 3 or 4 separate texts, and then mixes up the order in which I receive them, so it's like a puzzle. I don't know why she doesn't just call me. Because she usually ends up just calling me to repeat what her short story said.

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  6. When you send someone a text that's either A) complicated and detailed or B) really important and they reply, "K". I POURED MY HEART AND SOUL INTO THAT TEXT AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS "K"?????!!! *head explodes*

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  7. I refuse to text someone back that will shorten words. 'You' becomes 'u', 'nrm' is 'never mind', it is mostly the ones that skip one letter. Like that saved that one human so much time. My son gets the most frustrated when I ignore his text with missing words.

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  8. I can't stand the brb, gtg/g2g, and Ttyl. My dad will always say 'luv u'. If he truly loves me he would spell it out.

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  9. #1 - People who try to have important or meaningful or extremely detailed conversations via text, seriously do yourself a favor and just call already or write an email. This is also a problem because you can't read inflection or intention in a text and some of the worst arguments with my ex-husband were started because he though I meant something in a text that I definitely didn't, and he took offense at the imaginary inference.

    #2 - People who end every freaking text with exclamation marks!!! Or people who get upset and think you're mad because you didn't use an exclamation mark (usually the same people). Them: "I'm going to the store do you want anything?!?!" Me: "No thank you." Them: "Why are you mad at me?!! What did I do wrong?!!!!" Me: "Nothing, it's ok!!!" *mimes shooting self in head*.

    #3 - People who text at odd hours of the night for no reason when they know your schedule and know you are sleeping, but just want to chat. There is a special hell for these people.

    #4 - Massive group texts where everyone replies as "reply all" when they only need to reply to the sender and you get 50 texts in a day from people you don't know sharing things you don't need to know.

    #5 - People you don't really know (or don't really know WELL) and who aren't in your contacts list who call you and strike up a conversation like they are your long lost best friend, and when you ask them who they are they get bent out of shape about it. Them: "Why would you even ask that? It's Tammy from 4th grade gym class, we never really talked but I always admired you." Me: "How did you get this number?" Them: "I called so-n-so, who texted what's-his-face, who facebooked that one chick who's in your ward and looked you up on LDS tools, who called my mom, who came over and gave me your number. You act like I've been stalking you."

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    1. In other news, you need to get a bumper sticker for your stranger army of followers. Strangeling is already taken by The Bloggess: http://www.zazzle.com/strangeling_bumper_sticker-128222694188037574 But maybe something like:
      HASHTAGONCEUPTHEBARREL
      TWICEDOWNTHESIDE

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    2. Or maybe "Not that we know what road rage is CATHIE!"

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    3. I have never been tempted to bumper stick my car, but I would totally get that last one. LOLOLOL (which—doesn't that stand for "laugh[ing] out loud" ["out loud out loud out loud"]?)

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    4. #1,#2 and #4, makes me nuts!

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    5. Thumbs up to those Suzz...big thumbs up.

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    6. #1 is my biggest texting pet peeve. Hate that so much. Texting isn't meant for conversations, in my opinion. Plus, it's really annoying to type all that on a phone when it would be so much easier and faster to email or speak with voices. Also annoying is the person still using all the abbreviations - my mom still does this and it drives my 12 year old daughter insane.

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  10. People who carry on ridiculous text conversations when they know that I texted the wrong number on accident. Oh, wait...

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  11. People who carry on ridiculous text conversations when they know that I texted the wrong number on accident. Oh, wait...

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    Replies
    1. texted the wrong number "by accident"

      <_< >_>

      *runs away*

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    2. I don't mind those as long as they pause long enough for me to put on a snuggie and settle in for the long haul.

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  12. So much angst from the group! Makes me sad to think my friends or family may "hate" the way I text/email them. So much negativity here, almost every comment has "I hate" in it. Let's all just relax and enjoy life. Now I need a pick me up. On to the next blog.

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    Replies
    1. I hate your comment.















      Couldn't resist :-) :-) :-)

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    2. LOL!!! Liz in AZ, thank you! Even GOD uses the word HATE. Read Proverbs 6:16. ;-)

      Delete
  13. I find it completely unnecessary when people sign their texts. Yes, Grandma, I know it's you, I have your number in my phone.

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  14. Say this loudly and often; YOU CAN'T WRITE SARCASM. If you write "Thank you for the twenty dollars for my high school graduation". You might be intending this to be sarcastic (and wishing I coughed up more dough) but I'm going to read it as gratitude for my gift (you didn't get more because you are an ungrateful sarcastic punk).

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  15. People who just text "hi" or "hey" and nothing else. Mostly this stems from dating. I get messages all the time from guys that just say "hey." Hey what?!!!! What am I supposed to respond to that? If you wanted me to reply to your hello before you continue the conversation, then you should have just called me. Texting is about efficiency. The proper texting is to say "hey, do you want to get some icecream?" Or "Hi! How was your day?"

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  16. I had a friend that would do that. Note the word "had". ;)

    Actually, we're not friends anymore for a dozen reasons other than that, but that was still annoying.

    I haaaaaate group texts, for the most part. Not ones that send out a cute baby picture and everyone goes "Aww..." then it ends, but the ones that just. won't. die.

    My mom once sent me a text that started out normal, then suddenly went into all caps and ended with "HOW DO YOU TURN CAPS LOCK OFF ON A PHONE?"

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  17. I just sort of hate texting in general. But my biggest texting pet peeve is when people don't get to the point.
    Them: hi
    Me: Hi. How are you?
    Them: Good. Do you think that you can blah blah blah for me?
    Like, just say that in the first text. Sometimes it takes me hours to get to texts and this way I can know if it was important.

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