Texting Etiquette?

[ERhoosier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Yes, and it's totally seamless.

Until your iPhone & Mac suddenly stop connecting like happened to me today.

Apparently they had a fight and didn't tell me they had stopped speaking to one another. Poor human caught in the middle of some IT domestic squabble.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERhoosier Until your iPhone & Mac suddenly stop connecting like happened to me today. Apparently they had a fight and didn't tell me they had stopped speaking to one another. Poor human caught in the middle of some IT domestic squabble.

That happens with all devices. Rebooting will fix the problem in 99% of cases.

[WWDog]

I believe in KISS. I have never and will never text. Problem solved. If someone wants to contact me either pick up the phone and call me (I know how old fashioned) or send me an email if it is not time sensitive.


PS Have you ever gone out to eat and see a table where everybody is texting on their cell phones and nobody is talking? Put the cell phone down and interact with real people in your presence. People are forgetting how to interact in person.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WWDog I believe in KISS. I have never and will never text. Problem solved. If someone wants to contact me either pick up the phone and call me (I know how old fashioned) or send me an email if it is not time sensitive.

Texts are just as simple as a phone call and in many cases are preferable. And they're basically exactly the same as an email. Some of my golf buddies and band mates still work and sending a text that they can answer at their leisure is better than a phone call.

I certainly don't miss trading answering messages with people.

Quote:

PS Have you ever gone out to eat and see a table where everybody is texting on their cell phones and nobody is talking? Put the cell phone down and interact with real people in your presence. People are forgetting how to interact in person.

Yes, I have. But that's the fault of the person, not the technology. My cell phone is for my convenience and if I'm busy it's ignored.

There are wonderful features that cell phones have that regular phones don't have. We both have aging parents and knowing that they can reach us or Lifeline can reach my wife at any time gives us peace of mind. We're currently 3000 kms from home and our parents can reach us if need be whether we're driving or on the beach.

They also have a "do not disturb" option that allows us to block all calls and notifications except for our chosen exceptions. That means my phone is silent all night and the only people that can get through are my parents, my wife, or her daughter. On my wife's phone the exceptions are her parents, daughter, and Lifeline.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Texts are just as simple as a phone call and in many cases are preferable. And they're basically exactly the same as an email. Some of my golf buddies and band mates still work and sending a text that they can answer at their leisure is better than a phone call. I certainly don't miss trading answering messages with people. Yes, I have. But that's the fault of the person, not the technology. My cell phone is for my convenience and if I'm busy it's ignored. There are wonderful features that cell phones have that regular phones don't have. We both have aging parents and knowing that they can reach us or Lifeline can reach my wife at any time gives us peace of mind. We're currently 3000 kms from home and our parents can reach us if need be whether we're driving or on the beach. They also have a "do not disturb" option that allows us to block all calls and notifications except for our chosen exceptions. That means my phone is silent all night and the only people that can get through are my parents, my wife, or her daughter. On my wife's phone the exceptions are her parents, daughter, and Lifeline.

Bingo!!

While we were both initially put off by texting, it is the best way to communicate when time is NOT of the essence.

"Do you want to go to lunch Friday?" I don't need answer in 10 minutes. Tomorrow would be fine.

If it is more urgent, I call.

[TappyGee]

Good rules for everyone:
1. No group texts. They are the pits.
2. Every person has a different texting style just as all other communications types vary by person. Accept it, meet each where they are at, and be glad you have people who want to communicate with you at all.

[Bunker]

Where I live (overseas/outside USA), everyone uses a free App called LINE, rather than the phone text/SMS system, which you're locked into based on your phone number.



I used to be part of 1 or 2 LINE groups with 3 or more people in it. Most of the time just random comments, jokes and porn. I began screening the truncated version in the quick peek notification window, which doesn't register as a full "READ" message within the chat screen. After a while, people got the idea that I'm unreliable, and then I opted out of Group Chats altogether. If somebody needs to contact me with a time-sensitive message, send to me directly, or call. It was weird at first, felt anti-social, but after a couple months of peace and quiet, I like it.

[papaof2]

I simply do NOT send group texts. If more than one person needs to know something, I'll write it up then copy and paste to as many people as need to know. That way it gets sent to everyone in the same minute or so and the replies only come to me. If the recipients need to know who else knows, I'll add "Copies to Smiths, Jones, Brown" to the message.
Easier to head off the "everybody gets all the responses" of a group text.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TappyGee Good rules for everyone: 1. No group texts. They are the pits. 2. Every person has a different texting style just as all other communications types vary by person. Accept it, meet each where they are at, and be glad you have people who want to communicate with you at all.

So how would you organize 8-20 people twice a week, when everyone’s schedule could change each week. 20 phone calls? 20 individual texts? Group email (same potential issues as group texts)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by papaof2 I simply do NOT send group texts. If more than one person needs to know something, I'll write it up then copy and paste to as many people as need to know. That way it gets sent to everyone in the same minute or so and the replies only come to me. If the recipients need to know who else knows, I'll add "Copies to Smiths, Jones, Brown" to the message. Easier to head off the "everybody gets all the responses" of a group text.

I’ll pass on sending the same message 20 times vs once. IME the vast majority of group texts go fine, but some do go off the rails - that’s what I was asking about.

And it appears you can do bcc: texts with Android phones to accomplish the same thing without any cut-n-paste. I don’t see that functionality on iPhones (yet) - that would help a lot.

[ERhoosier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister That happens with all devices. Rebooting will fix the problem in 99% of cases.

Good suggestion, but did not help in my case. Turns out my Messages preferences had gotten corrupted. Reset Messages Preferences on my Mac, turned iMessage off & back on in my iPhone, and my iWorld harmony was restored

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WWDog I believe in KISS. I have never and will never text. Problem solved. If someone wants to contact me either pick up the phone and call me (I know how old fashioned) or send me an email if it is not time sensitive. PS Have you ever gone out to eat and see a table where everybody is texting on their cell phones and nobody is talking? Put the cell phone down and interact with real people in your presence. People are forgetting how to interact in person.

I agree that people (generally speaking) are on their phones way too much and this has caused some societal issues. Nonetheless, as my DW has said, "If you aren't paying my bills, cooking for me, or fornicating with me, then what does it matter to you?"

As far as never, ever texting...that's great for you. For me, I look it as a useful tool. I use it for several reasons but *I* choose to use it...under my terms. This is true for most user-based technology.

[Midpack]

Bless the proud Luddites, they’re always part of the landscape…

[Qs Laptop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Bless the proud Luddites, they’re always part of the landscape…

"Mabel, we ain't gittin' one a them new-fangled automatic garage openers. They're just trouble waitin' to happen. Burnin' more electricity, shootin' radio waves into my brain. Forget it!"

[hotwired]

I'm 56 so I have lots of adult years in both worlds, (with and without text).

Unfortunately it's still too new I think to expect hard fast adherence to etiquette. I have a guy working for me who sometimes doesn't answer morning texts until after noon time. I really get annoyed with that. (He's a tin hat guy who thinks EMF is killing us and won't put his phone in a pocket).

I completely disable group texting. I can send texts to groups (I have groups setup for my 22 tenants so I can text them all, or one building, but when they reply it only goes to me. I think "group chat mode" is almost certain to p*ss someone off and ought to be disabled in general as a "best practice")

I also annoy some of my associates by using voice to text. I send a freaking BOOK and they reply...hey man...love ya, but let's talk...it'll take me half the afternoon to reply to what you just sent!

[Pellice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover Texts are just as simple as a phone call and in many cases are preferable. And they're basically exactly the same as an email. Some of my golf buddies and band mates still work and sending a text that they can answer at their leisure is better than a phone call.

I do not agree that texts are basically the same as an email, due to differing lengths, search functions, indexing, and writing styles.

My friends and I use group texts for immediate plans and last minute adjustments, sometimes current weather and other observations. We use group emails to develop plans (you can include "considerations," pros and cons, speculative thoughts - just, basically, development). We use emails to give details about our projects (why we chose that paint color, requests for thoughts on the next step, etc.) We use email to chat at length about news of the day. You get the picture.

A text would never do for any of this. We can easily search our emails, put them in a folder, use them in replies or cut and pastes. A text is a different medium, more like a contact call among parrots "where are you?" "are you coming soon?" "We went right instead of left."

[Midpack]

^^ For whatever reason, IME many people are happy to share their phone number (for texts), not as free with giving out their email address (email). So I rely on texts for most people I know outside family and close friends.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack +1. We coordinate 8 to 20 players for golf twice a week. There is no reasonable alternative to group texting - not email, phone calls or in person.

I don't do a lot of large group stuff, even small group stuff. I can see why it would be helpful for those who do.

[Midpack]

I wrote an iOS shortcut that sends personalized individual texts to each of my golf buddies - with the press of one button. Now they’re all on the same page, without a couple guys irritating others. Some of them are starting to ask how I’m doing it. Game changer for me. Problem solved.

Mine is better, but sorta like this if you’re curious https://youtu.be/-wQfAUvO4Ps