Shortcuts to Insincerity: Texting Abbreviations Seem Insincere and Not Worth Answering

Abstract

As social interactions increasingly move to digital platforms, communicators confront new factors that enhance or diminish virtual interactions. Texting abbreviations, for instance, are now pervasive in digital communication—but do they enhance or diminish interactions? The present study examines the influence of texting abbreviation usage on interpersonal perceptions. We explore how texting abbreviations affect perceived sender sincerity and the subsequent likelihood that recipients respond. Eight preregistered studies (N = 5,306) using mixed methods (e.g., surveys, field and lab experiments, and archival analysis of Tinder conversations) find that abbreviations make senders seem less sincere and recipients less likely to write back. These negative effects arise because abbreviations signal a lower level of effort from the sender. Communicator familiarity and text exchange length do not attenuate these effects, providing evidence for a robust phenomenon.