So let me ask you something. Have you ever pissed someone off over a text? Have you ever been pissed off by a text, or have you been told you are too blunt? If your answer is "Yes" to these questions, then I understand your dilemma.
I have been told I come off very “bitchy” over text messages at times. In my defense, I’ve been told I sound bitchy in person because I am really horrible at “sugar-coating.” I realized this when I read a friend a text message that I was going to send to an individual that had been told some false information and I wanted to clear things up. The friend I read my text to said I sounded dry and too blunt, so she rewrote the text for me. In my head, I was being honest, but apparently that isn’t how it came off.
So I began thinking about the actual topic of texting. I was sure I wasn’t the only person that just sounded like a complete dragon over texts. In John McWhorter’s TED talk, "The Linguistic Miracle of Texting," people associate certain rules with texting that are very different from the way we speak and write. For example, “lol” means “laughing out loud” and most people know that and use it. The thing is that people will put “lol” when something isn’t funny and they just want a filler.
I use these fillers when I text, but I often write like I speak and like I said before, I have a little bit of an attitude with that already. Communicating over text messages means you can't hear the tone of voice or see facial expressions so people read them and have their own interpretation of what they are reading. Which, at times, has gotten me (and I am sure many others) into some arguments with people.
I accepted that adding "ha ha" and emojis lightens up my texts, but then I had to stop lying to myself. I realized that I am just a very aggressive, blunt person at times and that is just how I come off. My family knows it, my friends know it and now I know it. Here’s the thing: I don’t care. I am not a mean spirited person in any way and I am not trying to be malicious when I am honest. So why does it matter?
I will keep texting the way I like and at times I will have to explain myself that I wasn’t being rude. That’s fine, I accept that. I also know that out of the 22 million-plus text messages that are sent every day, mine aren’t the only ones that sound a tad sassy. So if you have the same issue as me, do not worry because in the end people will either love you for it or not. It's not your problem.
