Wait a second, really?

Maybe I’m old school or something — I am a whopping 21 years old — but I don’t quite understand where the frustration comes from.

A read receipt is a setting iPhone users can turn on while communicating using iMessage. When you open someone’s text while using the feature, the time the message was read appears on their screen.

Read receipts allow you to let someone know you got their message, even if you’re not able to respond. But problems can arise if you read a message with the read receipt on and don’t respond. Someone might think you’re ignoring them. This sparks debate about whether or not people deserve to know when you’ve read their texts.

The tools that iMessage offers for the iPhone enhance the ways we communicate when texting each other.

Apple iMessage allows people to communicate between different Apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and even on Mac laptops and computers.

Some of its less controversial features include the “delivered” tool, which lets users know their messages have reached their destinations.

There also is a tool that tells Apple users when a person is typing back a response by showing a “…” in a bubble. Although this tool also lets people know when someone is responding to their message, nobody seems to have any qualms with it.

The read receipt feature is the most controversial among my iPhone-using friends. For some reason, they always make a point to let me know I have the feature on.

I know I do, and I don’t think it’s a big deal.

Ways to communicate are advancing by the day. The common texting tools iPhone users utilize offer a different way to give us more information than ever before. For some reason this is changing the psychology of how we communicate.

I see the value in the tool. It lets others know when I see their text. It assures the users that their messages were read, whatever they might be.

Most of the people who are against the tool argue that you don’t want people to know you’re ignoring them. But you have a choice to open a text. If you can’t respond, you don’t have to open it right away.

If you do, who cares?

Since when does it become someone’s obligation to respond to a text within a certain time frame? We’re all busy from time to time, especially most full-time college students who might be working on the side.

If a text message is important enough and needs an immediate response, most people will make time to write back or at least let you know if they’re busy.

If they don’t respond right away, don’t worry. They’ll get back to you. Chill.

I will acknowledge the read receipt function can create awkward situations, though.

Sure, sometimes you might accidentally read a text and forget to respond, causing someone to think you’re ignoring them. But that happens. It’s called an accident.

If you’re really being ignored by someone you’re texting, chances are they’ll ignore you whether they have “read receipts” or not.

Yes, it’d be nice if you could manually choose who you show your read receipt to. Maybe that feature will come to fruition as technology improves and our ways to communicate grow.
Until then, cash in on the great tool Apple offers for iPhone users and start sending others your read receipt. For the most part, it gives people peace of mind that you’ve taken the time to look at their texts.

Ben Stram is a State News reporter. Reach him at bstram@statenews.com.