Are You Ever Going to Answer Me?

After last weeks post about embracing a slower pace and the way technology is affecting us, I was asked what my thoughts were on people not responding to a message, text or email, considering with most forms of technology, we can see when they've been received/read.

My immediate thought is that from a technical communication viewpoint, good communication would be a reply to minimally acknowledge the communication. We all lead busy lives and there are times when a communication comes in and it's not a good time to send a well thought out reply but does it take any time at all to write, "Got it, I will reply when I get home" or something like that. The trick with this is that then you must follow through and remember to write that well thought out reply.

We can all speculate what it means when someone doesn't reply to a message, but it's important to note that you are communicating volumes by not communicating at all. If people you are reaching out to are not responding you have a number of ways you could respond; you could reach out again asking if they received your initial message (you know they did), or you could note, "Hey, I see you read this on (date), I'm sure it just moved off your radar, so what do you think..." If there is still no reply, it would occur to me that they do not want to communicate with me.

I'm a firm believer that more communication is better than less in most cases. As I get older, I am also learning that there are times when saying nothing is the better course of action. If someone I care about is not responding, I would likely reach out via a phone call and see what's up, if something is wrong between us or just in general. Beyond that, there isn't much you can do except realize you need to do what you need to do with or without the input of this other person. I would also note that their unwillingness to communicate speaks volumes about who they are and that would be noteworthy for me moving forward in future interactions with them. What are your thoughts? Is there an acceptable time frame for someone to reply to a communication? I tend to think within 24 hours...but maybe you think longer is okay. Do tell!