No response: Read 11.30 AM.

So, you have finally found someone interesting and attractive enough to go on a date with. But two days later you find yourself anxiously staring at your phone as if you are tied to a grenade and an incoming text is the only thing that can save you. Why is he/she not bloody texting back?

Let’s rewind. The night of your date is there, you dress up, shave, look the nicest you can and prepare to be the most charming you can be. The food is great, the cosmopolitans and pints are flowing and you two are chatting and laughing the night away. At the end of the night you both agree to seeing each other again.

Then you are faced with the biggest generation Z concern: How do you communicate further? Obviously, with all the technology the options are endless. You could easily send a message on Facebook, call, send a Morse code signal. But the easy option is to send a text, so you do that: Cool and laidback like the person you are. “Hi, I had so much fun last night. We should meet up again soon. Halo next Friday? Skepta is performing X”. You are a 100% positive that you had a good connection, so you wait… And wait… And wait…No response. You go through a rollercoaster of emotions: Disappointment, anger, sadness, panic. You start questioning your internet coverage, it must be something with the 3G. Or maybe he died? Even if the case was that the other was not interested, they would probably be polite enough to just tell you right? How can someone be SO rude? Did your text contain a lot of typos? WHAT HAPPENED.

We probably all have been there. Or on the other side.

With the rise of technology, there are so many new rules and it has all gotten way to stressful. “Not texting back right away” is probably the most frequently given dating advice E V E R.

“You like him? Don’t text him!” 

“Text Game: Be the man who doesn’t reply!” 

It does make sense to not text back right away: It shows that you are busy living your own life. But apparently there is also a scientific explanation for it.

Reward Uncertainty

According to the Handbook of Reward and Decision making, Reward uncertainty is the term for the unpredictability of the likeliness of receiving a reward. This increases the interest in receiving the reward.

In Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance this has been put in the context of texting.

If a text back from someone is considered a “reward,” consider the fact that lab animals who get rewarded for pushing a lever every time will eventually slow down because they know that the next time they want a reward, it will be waiting for them. So basically, if you are the guy or girl who texts back immediately, you are taken for granted and ultimately lower your value as a reward. As a result, the person doesn’t feel as much of an urge to text you or, in the case of the lab animal, push the lever.

This has all turned into a big issue due to the ever-developing technology. I’m pretty sure my grandmother was not freaking out if my grandfather did not return her loveletter within 0.01 second.

“When you’re texting with someone you’re attracted to, someone you don’t really know yet, it’s like playing a slot machine: There’s a lot of uncertainty, anticipation, and anxiety. Your whole system is primed to receive a message back. You want it—you need it—right away, and if it doesn’t come, your whole system is like, ‘Aaaaah!’ You don’t know what to do with the lack of response, the unresolved outcome.” Natasha Schull, anthropologist.

There it is. All the scientific reasons why he did not text you back or why you are not texting her back. But quit playing games. Dating in this moden era is already exhausting enough – I’ve even had to master the art of using the exact amount of words in my replies. We all just want to be happy. So regardless of what science says, go and text that person back and have a good time!

If I don't receive a respond to my text within 5 hours I'm just going to delete your number and assume you died #ByeFelicia.

— Kirsty (@RemasteredRoms) January 9, 2017