As it turns out, there is a very scientific and psychological reason why you’re really bad at replying to text messages.
We all know someone who despite being on their phones constantly, is always replying to your messages after 12 hours. If you don’t know someone, it’s probably you.
Why do you never reply to messages?
Despite living in the golden age of communication, the simple act of replying to a message has never been so difficult to achieve. Whether it be Snapchat, WhatsApp, or Facebook, those messages are just gathering dust and breaking hearts.
On Reddit, one person confessed: “Ever since I’ve had a computer and cell phone, I’ve had a gigantic problem with replying back to people, whether it be text messages, Facebook messages, forum replies, etc.
“It’s not that I don’t care to talk to these people, most of them are my friends. I just can’t seem to get back to them in a good amount of time or if ever.”
“I do this too with my text messages. It’s just so exhausting and the more messages I get the less I feel like replying. I never thought it’d be an introvert thing, I thought I was just lazy or something,” another person said.
Which begs the question, why are technology-savvy people struggling to reply to their message banks?
It could be burnout
Dr. Mark Winwood, from AXA PPP Healthcare, told Cosmopolitan that one reason could be the experience of burnout. In 2024, our phones connect us to everything almost instantaneously. As such, this can leave us feeling overwhelmed.
“Anyone with a smartphone will probably have felt the effects of digital burnout at some point or another,” he explained. “This form of burnout is caused by prolonged use of technology and is characterized by fatigue and feeling stressed. It’s becoming more prevalent as most of us now own a smartphone, meaning that we’re being flooded with information almost constantly, which can at times feel overwhelming.”
This feeling of constant connectedness can leave us feeling like we are constantly at work. Without the space to properly decompress, those messages are just annoying reminders that prevent us from mentally slowing down.
There are, of course, a range of other reasons you might be a poor replier ranging from general forgetfulness to possible ADHD. If you ever have serious concerns over such topics, it’s best to seek a medical professional.
