Texting has become a ubiquitous — and unavoidable — method of communication.
While some long for the days when a good old-fashioned phone call was the standard, others appreciate the ease and speed of texting.
However, just like any other form of communication, texting has its limits. It's often difficult to discern people's tone in a short message, and some nuances are lost.
We all have our own distinct texting styles and preferences — and our own opinions about which method is best.
While some people go overboard with emojis to convey their feelings, others can't stand the sight of the colorful characters. Ending a message with a period feels dated to some, while others insist that proper punctuation should not be neglected even over text.
Whether you're a digital native or an old soul at heart, if you've ever found yourself baffled over your loved ones' text messaging style, or spiraled over a simple "k" then you're not alone.
Below, we break down four of the most common texting personalities.
What are the types of texters?
We all have our own unique love language and communication style, so it makes sense that everyone has their own unique texting style.
In general, texters typically fall into one of the following four categories, but it's always possible to create your own texting personality.
- Paragraph texters: This one's a phenomenon that the Huffington Post recently described that includes people who tend to send lengthy blocks of text in their messages. Paragraph texting is a useful vehicle for getting all your thoughts out, but can be annoying for people who prefer to receive short messages.
- Dry texters: Vogue reported on this text messaging style earlier this year and noted that "dry texting" refers to people who tend to reply to messages with one or a few words. They regularly write in shorthand and can come off as disinterested to paragraph texters.
- Emoji-obsessed texters: These texters simply ❤️ emojis and use them to express how they're feeling. When they're angry, you're likely to receive a short and sweet 😤 instead of a lengthy response, and they're much more likely to type 🤣 than LOL.
- Rapid fire texters: These communicators tend to send multiple short texts in a row (stream of consciousness style).
TODAY hosts discussed their texting style
Hoda and Jenna shared their texting personalities in a segment on TODAY with Hoda and Jenna. While Hoda said paragraph text messages are “too long,” Jenna fessed up that she’s often guilty of sending them.
“I’m afraid that I’m a long texter,” she said.
Jenna described another texting habit of hers that “really irritates people”: “I’m a rapid, bullet texter where it’s like, ‘Where are you? What time should we go?’” she said.
Hoda said that she prefers sending one longer text message so that the recipient isn’t plagued with notifications.
“I think just, ‘Hey, where are you? What time are you coming?’ send as opposed to, ‘Hi,’ (text message notification). ‘Where are you?’ (text message notification). Cause some people have ding, ding, ding,” she said.
Though Hoda keeps her notifications on, Jenna prefers to keep her phone on silent.
“Nothing needs to be that (important),” Jenna said.
