A lot of context can get lost in text messages. Even if you think that you can gauge someone’s intentions from what they say in the digital sphere, we get so much information from vocal intonation. That’s why I tend to limit my texting conversations to jokes and utilitarian information. “What time do we want to meet up?” “Doesn’t this meme remind you of Rachel?” “Can I call you in like five minutes?” I tend to limit deep discussions and confrontations to at least a phone call. Nobody wants to receive a text that can be interpreted as berating them, and at least when you’re talking on the phone, you can immediately begin to talk through it.
Unfortunately, not everybody agrees to keep it civil over texts, and they decide to have full-blown screaming matches in those blue or green speech bubbles. Even more unfortunate, some of those people are parents speaking to their children.
