A general question…when you are done with a conversation, do you let people you are leaving or do you just stop texting.
When our daughter was travelling and working in Europe for a year after her college graduation, we had to explain to her the cost of keeping her cell service on our family plan was-at minimum-regular sign of life texts.
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My kids accuse me of being too directive without a lot of emotion when I am texting. I don’t use exclamation mark, emoji, etc
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If out with friends, I try to alert them in advance if I’m waiting for an important call. Otherwise, I try to never answer my phone when with company. They are my focus at the time. I usually can’t hear it anyway, tucked deep into my purse or pocket.
I HATE group texts if they are large. The phone rings constantly as others respond one at a time. Is there a way to turn it off, except for the initial sender?
I typically dislike texts anyway. Tiny phone (which I prefer), with tiny keyboard. When someone asks for a reply that will take over 1-2 sentences, I tell them to email me. I’ll get back when I am at my computer or tablet. Typing (on a keyboard) was one high school course long ago that remains extremely useful 
On the other hand, my children rarely read emails. If I want them to respond (or even read) an email over 3 lines of information, I need to text them and ask them to read their email.
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We have to communicate with our son solely over Signal which provides secure end-to-end encryption for both messages and calls. Army Cyber requires it, but anyone can use it.
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I’ve done this on my watch when taking a walk to do a quick answer - time and place you know!
I used to always say goodbye or sign off but few others ever did so now I usually just stop if I’m done saying what I have to say or if the other party checks out first. I usually say goodbye to my kids or excuse myself if I have to jump off first. I have one close friend where we always say goodbye to each other.
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Between my kids and myself, we sign off by saying love you. I forgot once, and D texted back, “are you mad at me”
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It’s this weird thing. I don’t know what it’s good for, though. I have one and I tried to text from it, and I can’t find the keyboard.
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Thanks for the link to the read receipt article. I was pretty sure mine were off but was making a mental note to look up the instructions
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It may not be possible to remove your number from a group text unless, I think, everyone is on Apple. The workaround is either to delete the message, or mute notifications by selecting “Hide Alerts”.
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Yes – As soon as things started heating up there (and before things broke out), S2 directed us to Signal instead of WhatsApp.
Not that I would say this to him, but what I worry about are the Twitter idiots who like to dox and stir political and ethnic pots. That I find disconcerting.
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Funny story… for MS (5th-8th), my D22 was required to have an iPad, so that summer they all (about 45 girls) got iPads. It was long enough ago that the majority of them did not own phones or had their own emails, so that is when they discovered the joys of imessage. We were on a tour of Colorado and distinctly remember the iPad pinging constantly. At ALL times. (we live on the east coast).
Anyway, when day I decide to see what kind messages were being exchanged, and open iMessage to this:
“I don’t know you. Please remove me from this group chat!”
“Oh, hi! What’s your name?”
“Lindsay. Please remove me!”
“Where are you from?”
“I am a 35 year old adult from CA. Please stop texting me!”
The poor lady… with the time difference she was probably getting pings at the craziest times.
At that point I got on the group text and told them to delete that chat and start a new one. And to carefully verify the emails they were adding. There was, of course, someone with a similar name and email.
Additional perspectives on texting etiquette.
I have a LOT of opinions about this. I don’t necessarily agree with the Post article and I don’t think we all have to do what 13-30 year olds think we have to do. They don’t get to set all the “rules.” We are still probably paying for their phone plans! 
If I want to use a period and capitalize, I will.
I am a professional tutor who works with high schoolers all year round. Believe it or not, many teens are a bit better about their phones than you think. Maybe it’s because the word has got around in my area that I don’t tolerate phone usage at work. When I meet a teen, whether in person or remotely, I don’t often have to ask them to put the phone away. 99.9% of the time, phones are a non-issue while we work, at least.
My stated expectation for teens is to respond within 24 hours. If they don’t, I go right to the parent. I don’t care what rules they have amongst themselves. They have to learn how to communicate with older people, who are pretty text-savvy these days.
As far as people my own age, unless there is an urgent reason to text someone, please don’t do it if we are socializing, or unless it’s that time of the evening where every one starts pulling out a phone to show off, for example, their daughter’s wedding dress, or the holiday photos if people ask, or your latest home improvement before and after pics. Later in the evening, especially in the summer if we are outside, I actually love it when people use their phone to bring up a favorite tune, or to play some ridiculous video. That always ends up being fun.
In general, I think it’s best to respond to a text quickly. Certainly if it’s work related, I definitely respond within a day, tops. But if too many texts come at the same time, I’ve definitely lost a couple and have forgotten to respond. That happens to all of us. If someone needs an answer it’s fine to text again, saying that you’re checking to see if the recipient saw the message. Important things are better for phone calls or emails, or a combination of all three.
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I had to drive to Augusta last night. Freezing rain started to fall during the meeting. I texted my husband that the roads were horrible and I would take awhile to get home. It was one of the toughest drives I’ve ever made. Max defrost could barely keep up with the ice and I had to drive 30 mph on part of I 295. I never heard back from him. Turns out he didn’t look at his phone at all and missed my texts. He said I should have called him. I will remember that next time!
Or he should have called YOU to check on you if he knew there was bad weather!
Another pet peeve of mine…if you know I am driving, DO NOT TEXT ME and expect a reply promptly!
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Group texts drive me nuts sometimes. If I am in the middle of something else, getting the constant texts is really bothersome. I have one friend who “likes” every blasted group text response!! Drives me buggy. Last month I was skiing with family and we kept in touch by texts but it meant checking my watch or phone. A group text from home started and caused me to have to check constantly to see what
it was. I finally called the person who had initiated the text from the chairlift and told her to take me out of the text!
I hate group texts too. Thankfully I have an option on my phone to mute the group.
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Also inconsiderate is when you respond to a text saying you are unavailable and will get back to them and they keep texting!!
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