Networks: Left on Read

Technology offers us many advantages. We've experienced great developments in communications, and in a short time we've gone from a landline to being able to engage in a video call with several people at once, from our cell phones.

This is good. Today's communication stands out for its immediacy. We call, and the right person answers on the other end because most people already have a cell phone and always have it at hand. It's easier. However, this excessive availability drives us to despair when we don't get a response because we believe the recipient has to be there when we request it. We attribute that right to ourselves and even get annoyed and demanding if it doesn't happen within the timeframe we expect.

That's the problem. In the anxiety it generates, in not wanting to waste a second, in our rush.

Instant messaging apps usually have a receipt and read notification. When we don't continue the line of communication, we interpret it as "they left us on read." That is, they received the message, read or listened to it, and didn't respond. From there, we begin to imagine and give it various meanings, such as that they ignore us and that we don’t interest the recipient.

Leaving a message on read in this age of information, where we live tied to a mobile device and constantly post what we're doing, where we are, what we like and want, is considered more than a snub. But silence is also a form of response. Of course, it may not be the "message" they intended.

We usually manage everything from the same phone. We receive messages from work, friends, family, partners... each one has its own category according to the level of importance we give it. Well, some are more superficial, others urgent or intimate. Everyone is free to set their priorities.

The issue is a lack of patience on the one hand and a lack of empathy or forgetfulness on the other. Yes, we should know that there’s a world beyond the phone, that people live, have goals, worries, and occupations, and that, perhaps, they leave the response for a "better time," and this shouldn't cause so much remorse if it's preceded by a generic "I'll get back to you later" message or something similar.

And those who intentionally leave messages on read might think that perhaps their response determines processes. Forgetting to respond shouldn't be so complicated if the forgetfulness doesn't become eternal and is corrected. Sometimes it happens that so many messages accumulate and we don't even know where to start.

It's true that another transcendental aspect is that we have the right to respond or not. Sometimes we don't want to, and there's nothing we can do about it. The biggest problem will always lie with the sender, who feels tied to that last message and reviews it, tormented by the fact that it still hasn't been answered. This mental exhaustion isn't healthy; it shouldn't determine one's mood or judgment of others, and it's also unhealthy for one to go mad and harass on this path of despair.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff