tips from Lizzie
Your Cell
Text Messaging
I love text messaging. With it you can get a message to someone without causing their phone to ring at an inopportune time, ask a friend a question and let them respond at their leisure, or just shout out a quick greeting to someone without making a big deal about it. There are, however, a few text-message etiquette tips to keep in mind:
Most important, remember that text messaging is a strictly casual affair—usually used as a prelude to a call. If you really have something important or substantial to say, say it over the phone.
- Make sure you’re texting to the right phone number! It’s very easy to dial the wrong number or select the wrong phone book entry.
- Keep your message brief. No one wants to have an entire conversation with you by texting when you could just call him or her instead.
- Don’t text-message anything confidential, private, or potentially embarrassing. You never know when someone might be looking over your significant other’s shoulder—or worse yet, when your message might get sent to the wrong person.
- If you text-message someone who doesn’t have your phone number, start your message by stating who you are: “Hi—it’s Kate (yoga). Chiropractor’s number is: 1-802-555-2020. Good luck.”
- When you have a chance, respond to a text message with either a text message or a phone call.
- You shouldn’t use text messaging when informing someone of sad news, business matters, or urgent meetings, unless it’s to set up a phone call on the subject.
- If you receive a text message that was sent to you by mistake, reply explaining that you aren’t the intended recipient. You don’t have to respond to anything else in the message.
- Finally, remember that as with email, you can’t know for sure when the recipient is going to read his or her message—so don’t freak out if your text message doesn’t get an immediate response.
Remember: You are in control of your cell phone.
Taking a call signals that the person you are with is less important than the person calling. If that’s not the impression you want to make, don’t take the call—the caller can always leave you a voicemail.
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