I'm sure I wont be the only one who has had the experience of sending a text message and had to wonder whether it was received or not.
What is more interesting is when the recipient confirms receipt of your text message after you eventually get to speak with each other without batting an eye.
What is more interesting is when the recipient confirms receipt of your text message after you eventually get to speak with each other without batting an eye.
Initially, it may leave you wondering whether the text was received or perhaps the recipient is offended. No shaking (no cause for alarm), this is common and may not be anything personal. It appears that people just can't be bothered to respond, don't know they ought to respond, don't feel like incurring the cost of responding or a combination of any of the above.
A few points on texting etiquette are highlighted below:
1. Respond to all text messages as soon as you can even if you are declining a request. It is better to decline a request than to deliberately avoid or keep someone in suspense.
2. If you have not made up your mind regarding a request or invitation, it is advisable to send a preliminary response.
3. If you receive a 'thank you' text, don't just read it, acknowledge it. You could respond by texting back 'you are welcome' or 'thank you too'.
4. Be clear about what you are communicating in your text.
5. Never send abusive text messages. It is a most unwise thing to do. You may regret it after you have calmed down.
6. Never send or forward racist, sexist, or any other offensive messages.
7. Some Nigeria networks take their time before receiving or delivering text messages, so don't be frustrated if an acknowledgement is late. We are a developing country.
8. Always include your name in your text except you are absolutely sure your name is on the recipient's contact list.
9. If you have not received a response to a text message after a few days, don’t lose it, send a reminder or give the person a call.
Hopefully, the above will smoothen the rough edges and make life easier for all.
Share your experiences
Please share with us your experiences on texting or any of the other issues raised on EtiquetteBank. We will acknowledge star comments and experiences. EtiquetteBank
Please share with us your experiences on texting or any of the other issues raised on EtiquetteBank. We will acknowledge star comments and experiences. EtiquetteBank
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13 comments:
I think the piece about displaying etiquette via aknowledgement of text messages is great....
I suspect it may be a bit challenging though for people living in Nigeria to send such responses everytime msgs are received. This due to the fact that typically large number of text messages are received daily here in Naija and one would have to spend lots of un-budgeted money replying to them all.
All-the-same it really shows manners to reply the ones that are crucial and might portray one as lacking finesse if left un-acknowledged.
Keep it up!!!
Thanks for your concern on text message.There are no excuses for not responding to texts and it has nothing to do with the term DEVELOPING COUNTRY which is laced with ethocentrism that anything odd comes from Africa.I have several cases of unreplied mails from America and western Europe.This matter is not an ethnic
challenge but of a universal concern.Nzeaka, E.E Grange Lagos
hunhun,this is good.
sometimes i also wonder if my messages to people were not delivered because i seldom get replies,though im a culprit of this too.
i think it's fair to always acknowledge our messages either text or mail by responding to them.courtesy demands this and it completes communication.
love u Tinu.
I am glad there is growing awareness out there about the neccessity of learning aimple courtesies.
I sent thank you messages to some "enlightened" (i use the term loosely) people recently, and none of them even had the grace to reply.
I felt embarrassed for them, really!
replying text messages is great, like mr Charles stated,the unsolicited ones could result in waste of money. most especially if u get a lot of text everyday. so how do youu react to these ones. Also nt replying text msgs has become a norm...
anywayz since we need 2 do whats right then etiquette bank should tell naijas what else we aint gerying rite!!!
I do appreciate the need to keep an eye on your budget so that you don't spend money you have not planned, however, as much as possible, it is better and proper to respond to a direct text message sent to you.
Interestingly,series of excuses may be given on the reasons why we often refuse to acknowledge the receipt of messages, but the bottomline is obvious: its not in our character. Economic reasons may be tenable but beyond that, we are not really the kind of peple that will be bothered by such.I personally recieve a large number of messages daily and i could only respond to few..others are simply not important; you just have to prioritize your day and the text messages too. i think i will have to respond to more messages now anyway....
i sincerely believe naija would become a better place if we can imbibe this idea. it would show decency and politeness on the part of the person replying while it would also (i hope) encourage the senders to send only necessary and serious texts. Eyitayo, Lagos
Charles
the article is great, but there are certain communications you might want to breakup and the person seems to persist, i think its necessary to ignore in such rare cases.
I certainly agree with your article. It's quite amazing when you expect a response to a message and don't get one, only to meet the person later on and find out that your text was actually received.
i am actually a big culprit in this case. well, it's just that i procastinate, and eventually time rolls out and i dont see a need for it anymore(that is certainly an excuse)+ i'm actually not a phone person.
big thanks for this article.......... i'm changing my ways(truly i never saw anything wrong therein)
For me, this goes as well for replying mails. Most would receive same and might have started acting on the mail without as much as acknowledging a receipt.
What i did to force this was to enable reciept notification in Outlook
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