Text Fights: 5 Reasons Why They Suck.

Texts start off fine: “Hi babe! I just woke up. Love you!”

You start exchanging chitchats for a bit, and then for whatever reason, something someone says triggers the fight.. “You went WHERE last night??”

…and then it begins.

Since the era of text messaging began, I have been in one too many text fights – either with my then-boyfriend, my mom, my brother, my best friend, the list is endless. One good thing about text fights is that you can stop and think about what you are about to say to the other person without having the pressure of them impatiently waiting for you to answer back. But, even though I sometimes engage myself into one, I do understand how they’re wrong and not helpful for the fight:

1. It’s more hurtful than intended. There are just some people who are bad in putting their words together on paper (or text). When we email, text or write to someone, we tend to exaggerate things – as compared when we were talking in person wherein we try to be nice as we watch the other person’s reaction. But since in texting we don’t see them, we might not realize how much our statement hurt them.

2. Too much hassle. Since we bring our phone with us ALL the time, text fights can be a real pain in the ass. I remember having to work and get all distracted because I keep glancing at my phone for new messages. That’s why I seriously support companies who forbid their cellphones at work. Replying during a text fight just consumes 5 minutes of your productivity each and every time.

3. Miscommunication. Let’s face it. Sometimes someone says something and we can’t figure out what the hell they meant by that. Is he angry? Was that sarcasm? Without hearing the tone of voice and seeing their body language, it’s so much easier to misconstrue what the other person is trying to say.

4. No take-backs. When fighting, we sometimes get caught up in the moment and say things we don’t mean. When you are fighting in person, those harsh words are sometimes forgotten in the frenzy of all that’s said. But in text fights, you or the other person can go back to the previous messages on the phone and be reminded of all the messed up things you guys said to one another. And you may end up fighting all over again.

5. It’s plain & blunt useless. After a long exchange of harsh words to each other, one usually just ends up calling the other person or going to the person to fight face to face. What happened to working out our issues in person?? Have we really become that impersonal to hide behind our phones in cases of conflict? It’s just too emotionless.

I hate it, and yet I still do it. Ugh.