As much as it may make your fingers itch, some people truly deserve to be left on read. Certain scenarios warrant nothing more than pure silence on your end. You may think a sarcastic clap-back or an angry rant will do the trick, but there are times when the most effective response you will give is none at all. Here are 9 reasons you’ll come out on top to let them have the last cellular word.
- Responding could backfire on you. People crave attention. Even if you respond negatively, the other person will know where you stand and can use your aggression as validation of them being right and permission for walking away from you with a clean conscience. Don’t feed into their self-righteous unaccountable antics. Make them question themselves and doubt their own strategy to bait you in the convo.
- Replying could create an unnecessary problem. Texts or any other typed form of communication can be confusing. People add their own meaning, understanding, and tone to electronic messages. Some things need to be said through audible conversation and even better, a sit down in person. Responding to the text can just create more unnecessary losses in translation and problems that weren’t meant to be had. It can prolong an already present issue, add a new one, or simply give you more work to do by having to further clarify or clear up a misunderstanding.
- Continuing to text may just be trapping yourself in circles. If a convo is going nowhere through text, just put the phone down until a more direct, clear way of communicating is possible. Some conversations demand body language and voice inflection to avoid getting messy. A lot of people multi-task text responses and don’t give these short messages much thought or time. Getting choppy bits of an ongoing dialogue may not be cohesive or helpful. Alternatively, the whole talk can be had at once with better attention if face-to-face or over a phone call, hopefully with a better outcome.
- You might get caught up if you respond. You don’t want evidence of some of the things you say. Literally everything you text can be screenshot and shared with friends and family. Sometimes you need to get something out that can’t be used against you later. It’s safer to say it out loud with no evidence so you can deny it if you need to.
- When you don’t respond, you give them nothing. Even if you’re not direct, any response at all that you give they’ll try to infer or ad-lib what you meant and where you were coming from. It’s super unnerving to try to decode a non-reply. They can’t make a judgment call guess based on how long it took you to respond or ask other people’s advice on how to interpret what you’ve said. This can really trigger someone, which may be the effect you want.
- Silence is the ultimate diss. If what they said last was heavy, controversial, or important, they’re going to expect a response from you. Especially if you’re the type of person who always has something to say or insists on having the last word. You will blow the other person’s mind by not acting according to their certain expectations. They’ll be in mental warfare, maybe even turn into a stalker, trying to verify if you could’ve seen the message or if you’re still alive even. Or they’ll be left trying to guess if you’re busy and gauge the appropriate amount of time to expect a response. They’ll eventually have to decide if it’s OK to double text you or remain in limbo wondering how long they should wait. It could be total torture and you will have the upper hand.
- It could be the final end to a disastrous mess. Some people never let something go. No matter what you say they’ll respond and keep you sucked into drama. You also run the chance of them having a good comeback or hurtful retort and playing you or being right. By saying nothing, you tip the power scales in your favor without even being clever with your words. It could save you if you’re at a loss for words.
- It could give you closure. Sometimes you end up being the person who always reaches out. You may be afraid to find out if the person would show they care if you didn’t but them not making an effort is also a response on their end. It shows you how much work they’re willing to put. If they’re too proud to try harder to reach you or clear something up, just let them go. Their lack of response to your lack of response is also an answer.
- Some people’s words don’t deserve it. Don’t respond to people who are comfortable insulting, disrespecting, using, or taking you for granted. Just let their words lay in mobile purgatory where they belong.
