Some, like Apple Messages, have a way to turn read receipts off, and you should do so wherever you can. You may not even know you’re sending read receipts every time you check your favorite messaging app. “Sorry, it was late and I wasn’t checking my phone” doesn’t fly when that tiny “Delivered” icon in Apple’s Messages app turns to “Read 9:02 PM.”
If it’s from your boss, opening the message-and triggering that receipt-immediately voids all plausible deniability. You know that as soon as you look, whoever sent it will know. Speaking of which, what’s taking so long? How rude that they opened your all-important email/text/long string of emojis five minutes ago and still haven’t said anything back? When you send a message, of course you want to know when it has been read! You poured your heart and soul into that email/text/long string of emojis, and you’re looking for some immediate acknowledgment-of not only that your message was transmitted properly and arrived at its destination, but also that it was actually seen. Messages app may be the frankest of the bunch, with just a small “Read” underneath your message, along with the time it was seen.Īt their core, read receipts create a disconnect: They are good for the sender and terrible for the recipient. Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts and other apps actually use tiny icons of your face to indicate how far you’ve read in a conversation.
Read receipts have many forms: In WhatsApp, a check mark that says you’ve sent a message turns to two checks when it has been delivered-and both turn blue when it has been read. Many popular messaging services indicate in some way when you’ve seen a message-and in too many cases, you can’t turn it off.