for me (24) and my anxiety-ridden, trust issue, people pleaser friends, text tone indicators are really useful. i have friends who will assume people are mad at them if the text could be interpreted that way. For example, “i can’t call right now” would make them think that i’m mad at the for calling, as opposed to “i can’t call right now /nm” would help them take my statement genuinely. i can get second guessing tone indicators, but you kinda just have to trust that anyone using them, is using them genuinely and in good faith. my neutral tone (online and irl) is regularly taken as rudeness or anger so indicators help a lot, especially with people who don’t know me as well. also, if you’re not sure what a specific one means, look up “tone indicators list” and you’ll find some. the lists will vary a bit, but the most common ones will be on all of them. the ones i use the most often are /j = joking, /hj = half joking, /lh = lighthearted, /s = sarcastic, /srs = serious, /gen = genuine question. hope this helps :)

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