When we text, we are usually having private conversations that won’t be seen by anyone else. But in this day and age, when screenshotting and screen recording are easier than ever, it’s no longer safe to assume that our messages won’t be shared publicly. As long as you have only been sending funny messages though, rather than hostile or offensive texts, you should have nothing to hide!

The Texts subreddit is a wild place full of bizarre and hilarious conversations. With over 408K members, this group is one of the largest communities on the platform and is never short on entertaining content. From silly jokes to typos that caused hilarious misunderstandings, this subreddit just goes to show that plenty of gems are hiding in people’s phones!   

Texting has been around for decades, but it’s now one of the most popular forms of communication. According to Intradyn, cell phone users in the United States send about 2 trillion messages a year, or 6 billion per day and 227 million per hour. It’s also estimated that about 23 billion texts are sent around the globe every single day.

And if you’re curious about the very first text message, this groundbreaking SMS was sent on December 3, 1992 by engineer Neil Papworth. What was the message? A very short and sweet “Merry Christmas.” Later, texting became extremely popular amongst young people, but today, it’s used by all generations. I’ve even received heartwarming texts from my grandmother!   

Intradyn reports that a whopping 97% of Americans today own smartphones, so it’s no surprise that they’re texting so much. And while phone calls are still the most common form of communication, 92% of cell phone users will utilize texting as well. In fact, many businesses even use text messages to keep in touch with customers today, as 81% of consumers report having signed up for texts from at least one company. 

Personally, I have no problem talking on the phone, as I find it fast and efficient. Plus, I’ve worked multiple receptionist jobs, which obliterated any fear of phone calls I might have had in the past. But I know many people who much prefer texting for various reasons. 

According to Client Chat Live, one appealing factor of texting for many people is the fact that it’s more private than a phone call. Nobody can overhear your conversation, and it’s much easier to respond to a text than to have to find a private, quiet setting to chat on the phone.  

Some people also prefer texting to talking on the phone due to the fact that it can save time. You don’t have to coordinate with another person and talk when you’re both free. You can just shoot off a message, and the other party will respond when they can. This also allows us time to think before replying, a luxury that we don’t get to have when on the phone with another person. There can sometimes be pressure to respond immediately when someone is listening to your voice, which can cause stress.

Texting also allows people the opportunity to multitask more than chatting on the phone does. Sure, if you’re driving in the car, you might be able to talk on the phone via Bluetooth, while there’s no way you can text while driving (unless you want to cause an accident). But in most scenarios, shooting off a text message won’t interfere with whatever else you’re doing.  

While the invention of texting was an amazing innovation, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to message my friends and family every day, there are two sides to every coin. And when it comes to texting, GoodTherapy notes that our reliance on sending messages to one another has led to many people, particularly teens, feeling less comfortable with face-to-face interactions. Texting can also make communication more surface level, as it removes the ability to see a friend’s face or hear the tone of their voice when having a conversation. 

Texting has also altered the way many of us communicate by allowing us to use abbreviations and to get away with terrible grammar. Personally, I don’t care if my grammar or spelling are correct when I’m sending a casual text message to a friend. But this can be a problem when kids and teens are so used to using poor grammar online or on their phones that they can’t correct their errors in school. Writing an essay becomes a lot more complicated when you’re used to typing in all lowercase letters, using “lol” and “haha” constantly and can’t spell anything correctly without spell check. 

We hope you’re enjoying reading through these hilarious text conversations, pandas. Keep upvoting the messages that you find particularly hilarious, and feel free to share any stories about funny texting encounters in the comments below. Then, if you’d like to check out even more screenshots of text messages that might make you chuckle, we recommend reading this Bored Panda piece next!