{"id":26279,"date":"2022-12-28T13:53:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T13:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/28\/why-scheduling-texts-is-weird-but-it-may-be-useful\/"},"modified":"2022-12-28T13:53:52","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T13:53:52","slug":"why-scheduling-texts-is-weird-but-it-may-be-useful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/28\/why-scheduling-texts-is-weird-but-it-may-be-useful\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Scheduling Texts Is Weird, But It May Be Useful"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tero Vesalainen\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re all used to scheduling emails<\/a> so we can both hide our neediness at getting a prompt response and appear more professional in our hours than we actually are. Many email apps are just scheduled messages responding to each other with minimal human involvement<\/p>\n

But you may have noticed you can now schedule a text on Android<\/a> or iPhone<\/a>. A text! That casual blue bubble filled with bad grammar and dumb emojis and slang that\u2019s gradually murdering the English language.<\/p>\n

Why would someone need to schedule a text? If someone regularly texts as part of their professional life, then they likely schedule texts for the same reason we all schedule emails. It\u2019s the people who use this feature for social reasons that I\u2019m interested in.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the logic behind it, there\u2019s something about scheduling a social text that seems a bit serial-killerish in nature, like the person has a notepad that says, \u201cSchedule text to Suzy for 10:01 a.m., followed by \u201cDispose of body.\u201d I could be wrong about that.<\/p>\n

Scheduled You vs. Real You<\/h2>\n

Scheduled group invites to a party or something are understandable (though some phones limit this), as does scheduling a response to a friend so it doesn\u2019t arrive late at night in case their phone\u2019s not on silent. Beyond that, it feels odd. A regular scheduled text to a friend seems to turn your friend into a chore, and adds a level of manipulation to your communication that\u2019s not quite healthy. That said, there are plenty of bad reasons people might do that.<\/p>\n

Dating immediately comes to mind. Too many people have this silly notion of waiting the right amount of time to follow up after a date and\/or not look too desperate in responding. It\u2019s something they probably learned from the movie Swingers,<\/em> and so they\u2019ll go ahead and schedule the requisite \u201cHad a good time\u201d or \u201cI hate your stupid face\u201d so it arrives at a time that indicates their supposed casualness. And no, I\u2019ve never done that. It gets in the way of the stalking.<\/p>\n

It could certainly be useful for text arguments between friends who are too cowardly to pick up the phone. Imagine an ongoing argument with a friend the person knows well, and scheduling some response to their point at a time when you know it\u2019s going to irritate the hell out of them, like right before bed or when their favorite show has a new episode out.<\/p>\n

Better Reasons to Schedule Texts<\/h2>\n

In a less cynical manner (I\u2019m clearly pushing it with the above examples), scheduling texts socially can be useful to help offset that part of us that wants to stay home in an anti-social manner and be a piece of garbage. Half of life is showing up, as they say too often, and so scheduling a suggestion to do something with a friend forces us to be that outgoing person we always resist, an idealized version of ourself that commits to everything.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of a weekend, we sometimes have this notion of everything we\u2019re going to do, and then end up sitting on our asses and realize it\u2019s Sunday night already. But if you schedule a few social texts ahead of time and then avoid desperately grabbing at your phone like it\u2019s a bomb you\u2019re trying to defuse, now you have to do those things.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a like a To-Do list written in stone<\/a>. I wanted to stay home and watch all three\u00a0Matrix<\/em> movies<\/a> while ordering pizza and wings, and now I have to go skiing. Damn you, scheduled social me! But then, after you\u2019ve had an action-packed weekend, you think that maybe scheduled you was right.<\/p>\n

Of course, the problem with over-relying on scheduled texts is that you often forgot they\u2019re going out, and then friends will send you texts right before them, so your scheduled text looks weird and makes no sense in response, and then you have to admit the scheduled text. \u201cHow do I know what\u2019s real anymore?\u201d, they might ask. \u201cOur friendship is all lies!\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s just best to send a text when you think of sending the text and sort it all out later. This notion of scheduling our communiques to perfectly optimize social interactions may not be healthy for humanity, and could lead to us inevitably creating AI robot clones that can have conversations and attend social events for us while we sit home and watch movies all day while eating pizza. Doesn\u2019t sound half bad, actually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n