“Techiquette” is a continual struggle when it comes to email and social media, but what about text messaging? There’s no hitting ‘unsubscribe’ or ‘hide’ when a group chain message is coming through, no matter how annoying it is. Check out six of the most inconsiderate types of group text messages to avoid sending.
1. Late-Night Text Chains
It’s not exactly polite to send text chains after 10pm, is it? This particularly applies to weeknights. Trying to go to bed and repeatedly dealing with a buzzy phone is never fun, especially when the subject is hardly life-altering. There’s also time zones to consider—for example, a midnight text in California is a 3am text in New York. Unless it’s a dire emergency, skip the late-night texts.
2. Big Announcements
Announcing a wedding? A baby? Something else of significance? That’s great—just save it for a phone call, email or individual text message, rather than giving people the “reply all” option. Some may know to change their settings to ‘reply,’ but others blindly ‘reply all’ and send to everyone on the message chain (including people they don’t even know) message after message.
3. Mid-Day Chains
Sure, it may seem like a good idea to send a group text message during the day when you’re bored at work at school, but it’s best to save such texts for after 5pm. You don’t want to annoy friends sitting in meetings or class, or have their phones go off and irritate bosses and professors. And what if recipients are giving presentations or doing other important work-related tasks? There’s a time and place for everything, and midday is not that time for group messaging.
4. Droid-Only
iMessage is only available on--shockingly--iPhones. Droid phone users will therefore not receive group texts, which gets complicated when planning events and the like. Remember, blue text bubbles mean texts are getting sent, while green bubbles indicate at least one group text member uses Android. Also check the top of your screen for “Group MMS” instead of “Group.” Make sure you know who you’re reaching and who you’re not.
5. “Data Killers”
Not every person on your contact list has unlimited data, and videos, Emojis, photos and GIFs consume enormous amounts of data. Rather than forcing friends and family to pay higher phone bills every month, save the data-hungry stuff for social media and similar channels. Everyone can enjoy that funny dog video for free when it’s posted in an email or on Facebook.
6. The “Cliffhanger”
Another group text message no-no? Sending a mass text about an event or other happening, then failing to respond when everyone asks where it is or what time. If sending a group text, remember to follow up. Don’t be that person who leaves everyone hanging.
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