I am a minority. I represent the small percentage of people who choose not to turn off the read receipts on their iMessage. I know, I know, you hate me. But I think that the reason people don’t like to put their read receipt on is only related to the little notification of when the text was read. There is a lot more to it than that and I refuse to turn mine off. I did not know my people were so hated on until I saw a recent BuzzFeed article entitled “An Open Letter to People with Read Receipts.” The article claimed that people with their read receipts on are rude, passive aggressive, or don’t understand their iPhone. But here is why I will not turn mine off.
1. Accountability.
With my read receipts turned on, you will know that I have read your invitation to study later. I know that you know I read the message and I feel bad just ignoring it then. Having my read receipts on holds me accountable to reply to your message so I don’t feel like a horrible person. Also, I will totally forget to reply to your message if I don't respond immediately.
2. Yes, there is a passive aggressive element to it.
Read-receipting someone’s message is equivalent to the silent treatment. It effectively says, “Yes, I see what you are saying, but I am choosing to ignore it.” I even know people who normally don’t have their read receipts on, but still turn them on when they are in an argument with someone just so they can “read-receipt” them. I am not making this up. Is it petty? Yes. Is it stupid? Yes. But it happens.
3. Respect for the conversation.
There is nothing worse than sending someone a text message and waiting all day for them to reply. If that person does not have their read-receipts on, you could end up sitting there all day thinking, “Maybe he hasn’t seen it yet.” I am an adult and I respect our conversation. If you send me a text, I respect the conversation enough to let you know that I have read it, and I am not just ignoring you. Or maybe I am. But you will know.
And here is the worst part -- everyone is so quick to hate on the read receipts when, in reality, no one is angry at the words “Read 6:07 p.m.” No. What you don’t like is that people are ignoring your messages. No one wants to feel ignored by their friends. But we all do it, and we all know how easy it is to say, “Sorry, my phone was on silent!” when you see that person later.
Read receipts would not be a problem if we all respected each other’s messages more. So, if you are one of the millions of people who hate read receipts, think about the quality of your friends, instead. I want to show people that I value their messages and care about replying in a timely manner. That is why I will never turn off my read receipts.
