Conflict Resolution

Artwork by C0n71nuum

Texting is a terrible place to have a real disagreement. It flattens everything into words with no tone, no timing, no face, no body. You’re basically arguing with a projection of the other person, not the person. A short reply feels rude, a long reply feels calculated, a delayed reply feels personal, even when it isn’t. The medium forces you to guess, and people are famously bad at guessing.

So the conflict stops being about the issue and becomes about interpretation. You’re decoding punctuation like it’s a classified document while the other person is drafting responses in private, editing, delaying, disappearing. It’s not a conversation, it’s asynchronous communication styles with emotional lag.

Meanwhile, if you had just met up or called, it probably would’ve taken ten minutes. Because in real life you can see someone soften, hear their tone shift, feel when something lands. The body does half the work for you.

Texting is great for sending a song, a location, a photo, a “running 10 min late.” It’s not built for monologues (which can overwhelm the recipient via text but feels normal in person) and definitely not built for conflict resolution. Using it that way is basically choosing the lowest-resolution version of a high-stakes interaction.

Call them. Or see them. Otherwise you’re just arguing inside the wrong medium which might even worsen the situation.