It’s a short message, but “Read 1:45 pm” says a hell of a lot. Our phones might be vital to the structure of modern dating, but read receipts aren’t a blessing, they’re a burden. Here’s why:
- People know when you ignore them. If the sender sees “Read” with no reply, it’s pretty safe to assume they’re being ignored. If you had time to read the message, you certainly could have taken an extra five seconds to reply. You may want people to know they’re being ignored, but that pettiness is just plain childish.
- Sometimes needing a little space doesn’t have to be a big deal. Every now and then you might read a message but you don’t feel like replying right that second. Despite what men might believe, women can feel that way too. Sometimes you don’t have to say you need space, you just take it.
- He actually sees you analyzing his message. That time you’re taking to reply is no longer going unnoticed. Maybe that’s what you wanted, but it might not have the effect you intended. You could have wanted him to know what it’s like to feel “ignored,” but that move is too obvious to ever leave you looking good (or making him stop doing it himself).
- He can at least assume how much time you put into your reply. You saw his message, you mulled it over, and after you were finally done analyzing each and every word, you were able to come up with a reply. A text message doesn’t require that much thought. You’re not writing a novel here and your message doesn’t need to go through an editor first. If you keep taking love too seriously, you’ll never be able to enjoy the ride.
- He knows how quickly you read his message. You may have opened your phone just as a text landed in your inbox, but when his message says read literally seconds later, it automatically looks desperate. Guys want women who will have other things in their life than just a relationship. So reading his text as soon as it delivers looks like you have nothing better to do than wait around for him, and odds are you’ll just keep waiting.
- Your life doesn’t need time stamps, and neither do your messages. The best way to stop obsessing over his timeliness on texts is to make your time nonexistent too. You’re watching how long he takes to text back and then giving him a taste of his own medicine. Guess what, though? He doesn’t care. If you keep worrying about how to play the game, you’ll never win it.
- They’re just plain bitchy. Why do you even consciously have read receipts on in the first place? It’s a conscious decision to let people know when you’re pissed, annoyed or just plain ignoring them. You want these negative emotions to be oh-so obvious. What you really want here is drama, but what you should do is grow the hell up and stop being so damn passive aggressive.
