35 Cringy Text Messages That Hurt To Read (2024)

Social Issues

With the digital world at our fingertips, getting in touch with someone has never been easier. We can chat with our friends, have a quick video call with family members, and even share our opinions with complete strangers online. But when it comes to texting, some messages can get lost in translation.

Let’s face it—everyone has found themselves in such situations at least once or twice. Someone accuses you of being mean because you forgot to add a smiley emoji at the end of a sentence. Or you find yourself in a silly argument because your response was too brief.

Yet, some people send texts that are so cringe-worthy, others just had to take a screenshot to prove that it actually happened. From uncomfortable to awkward to straight-up creepy, take a look at some of the weirdest messages we found online and let us know what you think about them in the comments.

Pssst! After you’re done scrolling through this post, be sure to check out our previous posts full of bizarre texts right here and here.

Today, we have incredible freedom to communicate with other people in a variety of different ways. With just a few quick taps on our phones, we can share our thoughts with the world and find out about new things within the comfort of our own homes. Just think about Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp—our friends and loved ones can reach us in seconds from virtually anywhere.

When there are so many apps, people can start to believe that simple text messages, also known as SMSes, are a thing of the past. Well, that's not the case because studies show that it's still a widely used form of communication.

According to a study by Acision and analysis by psychologist Graham Jones, 92 percent of smartphone users still text despite having access to different messaging apps. Also, it seems that 18-25-year-olds send almost double the amount of texts than any other age group—133 text messages per week on average.

The study also found that SMS remains a popular texting medium since more than half of the respondents revealed that they couldn’t live without it. If you're wondering why it's so successful, researchers explained that it's probably because many people see it as a reliable medium that can provide us with a sense of privacy.

We managed to get in touch with Graham Jones, a web psychologist who focuses on how people behave online. We were curious to learn more about texting behaviors and how we should react after receiving uncomfortable texts. He told Bored Panda that social media has not replaced text messaging and it still holds a significant role in people’s everyday lives. "About 36,000 text messages are sent every second of the day. Over three-quarters of people use text messaging," Jones said.

When asked whether some of us tend to text more than others, the psychologist explained that we are using different methods of communication for separate purposes. "For example, some people use text messaging for family communications, WhatsApp for communicating with friends, Twitter for direct messaging companies, and so on."

"We are tending to use different methods for specific reasons. So, some people will use text messaging more than others not because they prefer it, but because they do more communicating with family or friends or whichever group they mentally allocate to text messaging," the psychologist explained.

We got so comfortable with this medium, almost everything we used to do in person can be achieved while texting. Whether it’s falling in love, breaking up, sending your friend birthday wishes, or congratulating them on a promotion, it can seem that the way we talk to each other is slowly changing.

Talking about how texting affects our everyday lives, Jones said that the only significant impact it has is to give us even more communication to do. "In the past, when all you had was either sending a letter or making a phone call, there was much less communication we had to do."

He continued: "Nowadays, with texting, WhatsApp, Messenger, and so on, we are spending much more time using communications systems. In the past, much of what we now do electronically, we would have said face to face."

Text messages are generally short and people who read them have little information to work with. While some believe that words can sometimes show a lack of emotion, a simple message can sometimes flip our world upside down. So even if we’re in a hurry, we should think about sending a funny joke, giving a compliment, or writing something positive to make the person on the other end feel appreciated.

However, as you can see from this list, some people are on a mission to make others feel uncomfortable and even creeped out. "Our mood is always affected by the words we read," Jones added. "Whether that change in mood lasts a long time depends upon the message itself, who it is from, and our reaction to it. Some people can 'shrug off' a mood lowering text, whereas others find the impact long-lasting."

So if you’ve ever received an uneasy text message that left you wondering what on earth was on that person’s mind, Jones advised you to try and talk to someone. "Reflect on the experience and work out what made you uncomfortable. Then chat to someone you trust about it."

"This will help you cope with the impact of the message. If the message is from someone you don't know, you might want to block their number, so they cannot upset you again in the future. If it is from someone you know, you may want to tell them how they made you feel," he concluded.

Ieva is a writer at Bored Panda who graduated in Scandinavian studies from Vilnius University. After learning the Swedish language and getting completely lost in the world of Scandinavian mythology, she figured out that translating and writing is what she's passionate about. When not writing, Ieva enjoys making jewelry, going on hikes, reading and drinking coffee.

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