What Is Dry Texting And How Can You Avoid It?

When you want to talk, chances are you pull out your smartphone and start typing away. Many people prefer texting over calling and other voice-based forms of communication. In a survey by OpenMarket, a whopping 75% of millennials said they prefer texting over speaking. Among the top reasons why texting trumps voice is that it's easy, less stressful, saves time, and offers a transcript of important information.

In short, texting has made communication more convenient than ever — and more confusing than ever too. Texting makes it hard to know the true motive behind why someone slid into your DMs, when double texting is okay, or why they left you on read. And even though texting makes it easy to connect at any time and anywhere, conversations can also be more superficial than they would be if they were over the phone or in person. As psychologist Maggie Mulqueen wrote in an article for NBC News, "Texting is lazy, and our relationships suffer when we don't invest in them." There's perhaps no more accurate example of this than dry texting.

According to Urban Dictionary, dry texting is "when one isn't in the mood to text but does anyway." They keep the text exchange alive by offering the bare minimum, writing short one or two-word replies. Some common dry text responses include "k," "lol," "sure," and "u?" (per Text God). With these kinds of responses, there's little room for the conversation to grow, making it more likely to dry up quickly.

There are a lot of reasons why someone might engage in dry texting. Sometimes, a person's texting habits might reveal how they feel about you. Dating expert. Julie Spira, and body language expert, Traci Brown, told Elite Daily that if someone regularly sends short messages that don't elicit a response, they might not be into you.

Relationship expert Jessica Os offers some other explanations. She explains that some people simply aren't good at texting or don't like to text much. Dry texting can also be the result of incompatibility or different interests, making it hard to carry on a text conversation smoothly.

You may not know why someone is dry texting you, but there are a few ways to overcome it and bring life back into your conversations. First, make sure you're not being a dry texter yourself. Marriage.com suggests having fun with texts by using memes, gifs, and emojis. Use texts as a way to share details about yourself, ask thought-provoking questions, and show off your flirtatious side. And if you're not that into texting, Love Panky recommends sending recorded audio messages instead.

If you're dealing with a dry texter, personal coach Pricilla Martinez told Cosmopolitan that it can help to ask about their preferred communication style. "Don't be afraid to ask if they prefer talking on the phone, FaceTiming, or just meeting up," she says. If it seems like there just isn't much to talk about, turn to tried-and-true topics like where you each grew up, hobbies, pop culture and entertainment preferences, and future goals (via MindBodyGreen).

If the text exchange continues to feel dry or one-sided, it's okay to give up and stop texting. This gives the other person a chance to revitalize the conversation or step away if they weren't interested in texting to begin with.