I am somewhat guilty of this, my apologies, OP.

>>13975
Can I ask your reason? Do you not consider the person worthy of your time? Do you have genuine reasons that you want to avoid them? Are you trying to send some kind of 'message' via silence? Or is it simply a case of laziness and apathy?

>>13974
I do it a lot. Maybe you are needy, maybe you are annoying, maybe I am busy, maybe I am conversing with more interesting people, maybe you are one of those people who, when I answer to, end up dragging the conversation for hours, maybe, maybe...

I think instant messaging, text messaging, ubiquitous mobile phone use, programs like Skype, etc. have muddied the waters pretty badly when it comes to etiquette (which is difficult to decipher at the best of times). With our current attachment to phones and instant communication, in theory we expect everyone to be available 24/7, which as you point out is unrealistic, but it is sort of inferred because of the medium you're using. Hence why it's a bit upsetting to leave a message without response, there's very little chance that they didn't get it.

This is a half-formed thought, but considering it now, maybe it is healthy to have some degree of ambiguity in whether a message has been received in purely social communications. Recorded telephone messages seem like a nice middle-ground between immediacy of contact and certainty of the etiquette involved for contacting long-term friends. They don't call back? They're busy. They do? You can just keep knocking the ball back and forth the court until you are both free, without any pressure to reply right now.

>>13976

Not the lad you were replying to, but I can relate. Quite often I'll read a message and not have time to reply and resolve to reply later and forget because I'm building something or playing the computer.

I avoid social networking most of the time and I go on and catch up with messages and invites or what have you maybe once or twice a week.

I do reply most of the time though, it just takes me a while.

Perhaps your friends are busy, but based on my experience if that was the case I would have thought they would message you back eventually rather than not at all.

>>13976

I'm just not very good at socialising, kinda? Also I hate ending up in a texting conversation, I'd much rather just have a 2 minute phone call.

I do it on Skype a lot too, but that's because Windows 8 never bothers sending me a notification.

>>13977
You sound like a bit of a smug cunt. Even so, with all the possibilities you list there are many ways of ending/preventing the start of a conversation. Someone 'boring' asks if you want to go for a drink, just say 'no I'm busy' or if you really don't care just a flat 'no' should convey your feeling of disinterest. Heaven forbid a friend going through a difficult situation asks for help you can always explain why whatever you are doing is more important than being a decent person. Radio silence just says 'I am too socially malformed or organisationally challenged to send an adequate reply.'

Worst are the cunts who seem to have a superiority complex like yourself but still feel the need to bullshit during times of conversation - 'oh sure I'd love to go for a drink down the duck and dingo' then ignores any follow up. Most of the people that do this lack any reason to feel so up themselves, it does seem confined to thick, ignorant chavs

>>13979
That's fair enough, I can completely relate there. I'm not expecting an immediate reply but when straightforward questions go unanswered after days to weeks it does boil my piss somewhat.

>>13982
I think you're largely right, though maybe it could be said you're something of an insensitive cunt yourself for failing to appreciate that social adroitness doesn't come naturally to a large number of people. Most of them would love to please you in this way, but they struggle to express themselves quickly and effectively. Don't take it personally. Also, I hope you extend some leeway to people with many demands on their time. If you consider a person who receives 100 emails every day, it's easy to see that you're less entitled to 30 seconds of their time. Thinking otherwise effectively robs them of an entire hour in their day. Time management is a key component of success and getting bogged down in communicative administrivia can be a very real hindrance that needs to be put in check.

>>13981
Ah. I feel a bit awkward phoning people that aren't close friends. I can deal with it when inevitable (e.g phone interviews) but given the choice I'd much rather text someone that I'm not overly familiar with.

>>13982
Stop the name calling. I am neither a smug cunt, nor a chav, and I am most certainly not a smug chav. Why do you feel entitled to have your questions answered? Just let it be, Jesus. The ones with the "follow up" questions are the worst, and I do everything to ignore them. I can't be rude, because I am a nice and polite person, but some people are so "socially malformed" that they can't take a fucking hint.

I had a cunt ask me that they seen me using whatsapp (something to do with whatsapp telling people when you last checked it), so why weren't I answering their needy, annoying questions. Take a fucking hint. Do I have to say "fuck off" to people like you so that you understand? Christ.

>>13986
This reminds me, an especially big Fuck You to all hiring companies/HR departments that don't send out some kind of reply to inquiries, more so if it's an application to an advertised job. I don't care if 50 people applied for one job, if you can't manage to work mail merge and send out emails en masse then I should have your job you fucking twat nugget.

It's short-sighted and counter-productive when people they fuck off are going to publically moan about how shit company x is and aren't going to be too keen on dealing with that company in any way in the future if they're run by a bunch of rude cunts. For the record Tesco's is and has always been run by such bastards.

>>13988
Can you give an example of what you see as a needy/annoying question? plot twist: is this one?

I have a mate who is constantly asking to meet up because nobody else can be fucked spending time with him. He is most definitely needy and it does fuck me off when he calls 7 times in a row (no joke). But it's the continued messages and calls that piss me off, if he instead only sent one message about once a week asking to meet up I'd be far happier to reply and organise stuff.

>>13990

>Tesco's

Oh god, you know not what you have done.

>>13988
Also can you not understand that ignoring a message is far ruder than almost anything you could reply with? Grow a spine and tell people straight what you think, I can't be bothered with half-formed 'hints'.

>>13995

Not him, but I wouldn't consider being ignored by someone as a "half-formed" hint, not by any stretch.

>>13996
That's the thing. If you knew you were being deliberately ignored then sure. But it could just as easily be due to aforementioned laziness, uncertainty of what to say, or failure of technology in some way. It is by no means a clear message of any sort. On the other hand it's pretty clear when people reply with one word messages and vague excuses that they aren't interested in you.

Christ, this narcissism.
Silence isn't half assed at all it's just being polite, have the courtesy in taking that hint.

If someone asks me a direct question I'll usually reply. If not, then if I don't want to talk to them, I won't talk to them. I hate that it's socially accepted that anyone who has your number, email address, or is a friend on a social network has instant access to your attention at all times. Fuck off and leave me alone.

>>14007
To be clear, I'm not talking about messaging people I don't talk to in real life or haven't even met. I'm talking about people I consider to be friends or at the very least acquaintances. I fail to understand why someone would choose to be friends with you yet fail to master basic communications skills. And as for acquaintances, it seems to be the least antagonistic action to make at least a non-committal reply.

I'm not sure why so many people are pretending that they are so busy/important that taking literally 30 seconds out of 24 hours to be polite to a fellow person is impossible. Christ, you'd put the same effort into saying thanks to the guy who served you in the bar right?

>>14022
Asperger's? I mean seriously, there is something wrong with you.

I've avoided messaging people simply because I dislike switching email accounts on gmail despite it taking less than a few seconds.

There's probably something out there that allows a quicker toggle but I really can't be arsed looking for an add-on like that. Google does seem to dislike web design because every time they change/redesign their site they make it so you have to press an extra button or two.

There is also the saturation of messaging services and software. I really don't want to sign up/install to something I'll barely use. I mean christ if I want to get in touch with someone at college about work I'll use Steam because we both use it a lot. We don't want to bother with the official college messaging service and email.

>>14025
Oh and for whatever reason I'll avoid using 3rd party suppliers on amazon because I have the amazing laziness to not want to leave any feedback even though it takes 2 seconds.

>>14025
If by "out there" you mean built into all of Google's sites, then sure. How could they improve this? Two clicks is all it takes and it's not a menu that should be permanently open. If you set it up you can even send emails from your other accounts without switching to them.

>>14027
I forgot about that. They asked me to add an account so I could switch but I was pissed off at youtube asking for my real name and to sign up to google+.

I am someone who likes my accounts to be completely separate. One main, one for work/college related and one for porn (admittedly the porn related one hasn't had much use lately). Don't have a lot of choice in other web based email providers. It's either gmail, hotmail or yahoo and to be honest none of them are ideal.

>>14023
Huh? That's a strange conclusion to draw.

OP here. Before I made this thread I assumed that it was a common sentiment as I've heard plenty of people complain about rude people not replying to texts. Was there some sort of .gs black-ops resolution that I missed, whereby communications channels are to be saved only for important information regarding the safety of are purpz?

I don't even say thank you to the bus driver when I get off the bus.

Maybe I just don't like talking to people.

>>14032
Hardly anybody does in London.

holy jesus, this whole thread is incredibly ignorant of all social disorders, autism and introversion.

Some people just find it harder to talk to people. Some find it tiring. Some just don't understand the desire to be social like the rest of us. I don't get why people can't understand that it's actually stressful to a lot of people to expect them to be on-call.

Me personally, I'll most often ignore messages when I'm hanging out with people afk. If I get a text and I'm talking to a friend, it's getting rubbered til I next go to the bog. Sometimes, though, I'll get messages or emails and I'll simply not look at them because of how if I start replying, I'll have to keep up a whole conversation (as it would be rude to stop mid-chat), and I actually have things I want to do.

You can't just call on someone and expect them to drop everything to talk to you- and you'd be complaining all the more if you started a conversation and they vanished.

I haven't seen a good friend of mine for a while now. Last time I saw him was shortly before christmas. He had a lot of work and so I just left him to do his work and wait for the phone call. I also got a lot of work and he he texted I just didn't reply because I didn't want to be a dick and say I was too busy with work and I'd text him a week later. Then I got more work, then I got a cold, then more work when the cold stopped, then another cold combined with more work.

Been two months since that text and now I'm feeling a little awkward about texting him at all.

>>14038

A hand written letter and a box of chocos is in order.

>>14035
As has been evidenced in this thread it is often due to a feeling of certain people not being worthy of your time as opposed to introversion. Besides I think you'd have to be very seriously introverted to the point of being a complete basement dweller to find responding to a text too stressful. It's not like calling someone where you have to think in real time and worry about your tone of voice etc.

>>14043
You really are a cunt. Nobody owes you anything. Stop having a teary.

>>14044
You're the one having a teary lad. Would you be as precious if a friend said hi to you in public or came and knocked on your door for daring to feel 'entitled' to your attention?

>>14043

I had a friend with social anxiety who was an absolute gem, but would have panic attacks at an email on an off day. The problem is that folks just don't even consider the other person and ask them if they're ok, they just go complain about it online! Can't we just ask folks if we're a bother or have a chat about why they aren't feeling up to messages? Just politely asking will often get a slightly guilty explanation of how you came on too strong or how they're busy lately or whatever.

>>14050
I completely agree that discussion is the best thing, the problem is that if it isn't someone you live/work with and therefore don't see every day it's difficult to do without sending follow up messages or contacting them by other media which would surely relegate you forever to the rank of needy, annoying twatface according to the above poster.

>>14052
There's always the option (a rough one, I know) of waiting. Just distract yourself for a few days and then shoot a text or whatever back saying (formal:) "I didn't catch a reply to my message about [x] the other day, were you able to respond?" (informal:) "Hey, sorry, do I have the wrong [number/address/etc]?" or the like, if you've just got to know them, or "Sorry, did I catch you at a bad time the other day? Didn't hear back from you."

I guess my main whinge is the way you lads sounded very keen to blame the other party when it's as much your fault as theirs! You'll note that it takes a few tries not to sound demanding in such situations, and that's a hint- if you sound needy, you're probably being needy, mate.

>>14062
I usually go with "OI ANSWER YOU CUNT" seems to do the trick.

I've had this happen a few times in life.

I used to be quite close friends with this guy from secondary school and he used to live on my street. I went out on a night out with him once after not seeing him for a long time. I remember texting him the day he was moving out. Never responded. I also sent him some facebook messages afterwords, never responded to those either. So I deleted his number and him off facebook.

I used to go to this sports club twice a week. Became really good friends with the coach and his brother. I even invited the brother round to my house once and we had a good time. Anyway, I move away to uni and I get this text from him, asking me if I'm coming back to the club. I say "I'm not in hometown right now, plus I've got fresher's flu so I can't play." Texted him few times afterwards for a catchup never responded. Asked him if he wanted to play badminton sometime, never responded. So I ended up sending him facebook messages after about 3 months, he'd "see" the messages but not respond. So like a month later I send him a message asking him if there was something I did wrong and why he wasn't replying. Guess what, never responded. So I deleted him off facebook and I deleted his number. 'Tis a shame.

This other friend he's told me straight up he doesn't like the humdrum of texting so that's why he doesn't reply. That's fair enough I can respect his honesty. Though he replies when I need him too, plus an insult usually gets a reply.

>>14062
I like the way you think.

>>14068
How bizarre.

>So like a month later I send him a message asking him if there was something I did wrong and why he wasn't replying

Yeah I guess that's a large part of why it makes me feel uneasy, like you've done something terrible to offend them completely without realising. I had a good mate who took offence to me applying for a job at the same place as him and rather than calling me a cunt or whatever just stopped ever replying to texts or calls. This is someone I'd known for years and one of the main people I went drinking with in my hometown. At the time I assumed I'd done something else to offend him badly but recently it's become apparent it was that petty.