For many of us, texting is a huge part of our lives. It’s a lightning-quick way to communicate with pretty much anyone, no matter where they might be. However, some conversations can take an unexpected turn for the bizarre, hilarious, and even downright cringy. 

We’ve collected some of the most facepalm-worthy text messages that men sent women, as shared on the popular r/texts online community. Scroll down for a crash course on how not to communicate, ever!

We reached out to the friendly team running r/texts, and one of the moderators was kind enough to answer our questions. You'll find what they told Bored Panda below.

#1 My Ex Fiancé Texts Me From Different Numbers Every Several Months. Left Him Nearly 3 Yrs Ago

Image credits: MerryMir99

According to Statista, the most popular mobile messenger apps as of January 2024 are WhatsApp (2 billion monthly active users), WeChat (1.3 billion users), Facebook Messenger (979 million users), followed by Telegram (800 million users), Snapchat (750 million users), and QQ (558 million users).

Edison Mail states that text messaging is the preferred mode of communication for most generations, including Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. It’s only the Silent Generation that overwhelmingly prefers emails and calls to texts. 

#2 This Jerk's Text That Reveals He Will Forever Be A Lonely Boy

I work in finance. I’m not saying that makes me the authority of what’s correct and not, but I may understand money and bills a bit better than my blue collar fiance. We have been together for 4 years, and he has put us in a few tight financial spots. (Not having a job, reckless spending, letting payments defer, getting vehicles repossessed, etc.) and we are at a spot where I have his paycheck sent direct deposit to my bank account, as right now he doesn’t even have one. I don’t know how to handle messages like this, because I don’t even try to mentor him. I used to, I tried to teach him our budget and how to pay bills and make sure we have money, he has no interest whatsoever. So it’s not me trying to have total control. He gets this way every time he gets paid lately, just wants to throw it all in my face that he “sees none of his money.” This is only the 3rd paycheck I’ve gotten of his, and I plan on him open his own account and letting him handle his business once I can guarantee we won’t lose or home or our have our utilities shut off.

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#3 Matched With This Guy On Tinder, After Talking To Him On Facetime One Time…. He Sends Me These

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Bored Panda got in touch with the moderator team behind the popular r/texts subreddit, and a representative was kind enough to tell us about the online group's history.

“The subreddit started as a place to post phone text message screenshots, as other subreddits didn’t allow them,” they shared what the roots of r/texts were.

“Eventually, other messaging types were added to the subreddit: Discord, Telegram, Instagram DMs, etc,” the moderator said, adding that the community then “became more about conversations.”

#4 He Broke Up With Me

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#5 When You Give The “Nice Guy” A Chance

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#6 An Absolute Jerk Who Doesn't Deserve To Have A Partner

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We were curious to hear about the subreddit's popularity. According to the moderator, r/texts "had massive growth in 2023."

This happened "due to a change by Reddit that categorized the subreddit and featured the subreddit to users in recommendations." In short, more redditors were able to find the sub and enjoy the comical and bizarre conversations.

According to the mod, "It's 2024, and more people prefer sending a message over a text medium than ever."

#7 From A Guy I Met One Time!

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#8 This Guy Who Stalked A Girl On Her Instagram Because He Assumed That Her Left Swipe Meant She Was Interested

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#9 Guy On Tinder Is Mad At Me For Existing As A Woman

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Meanwhile, they noted that the r/texts subreddit and the comments section are great places to find out all about the right and wrong ways of using text messages for anyone who's interested. There are tons of examples of what (not) to do!

Probably the biggest advantage of texting is that it’s instantaneous while also allowing for conversations to take place over long stretches of time. You send whatever you want to say, and then the other person will respond to you when they can. It’s very convenient (e.g., compared to having to listen to voice messages). On top of that, there’s always a written record of the entire conversation in case you want to look up some earlier info.

In short, unless you’ve set up some fancy auto-deleting parameters, there’s a (digital) paper trail of everything that’s been said. Moreover, texting allows people to take their time, think about, and edit what they want to say before sending the message. That’s not to say that texting is perfect, though. Far from it!

#10 Texts From My Guy Childhood Best Friend

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#11 Pushy Guy From Hinge

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#12 Man Expecting Me To Promise S*x After A Three Minute Conversation

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Even with punctuation, emojis, memes, videos, and gifs, it’s very hard to convey tone, mood, and intentions through messages alone. A call or video chat can tell you loads more about how someone’s feeling. It’s more genuine than communicating through words on a screen.

(Though, some of us still prefer face-to-face communication whenever possible. Body language is super informative! And online communication has no physical aspect to it, aside from you holding your phone.)

Miscommunication can happen whether you’re speaking to someone in person, on the phone, or texting. Usually, if anything seems unclear, you can simply ask the other person to clarify what they meant. But there’s often this sense of awkwardness when you ask someone to explain themselves over text.

#13 This Red Flag From A Guy Who Essentially Harassed This Woman With Texts For Days, Then Threw This At Her

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#14 My Guy Friend Got Upset Because I Called Him Out On Being Obsessive

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#15 Guy I Dated For Less Than A Week Asked Me For Money-Nope!

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Flirting over text alone might not give you an accurate impression of the other person. They might work up a fabulously witty texting game, but in real life, they might be very reserved and awkward.

Similarly, just because someone isn’t the most charming over text doesn’t mean they’re not charismatic in person. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

#16 Guy Gives Me An Ultimatum After 2 Weeks Of Speaking And It Gets Ugly

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#17 Messages I Got From A Guy On Wink (An App To Make Friends)

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#18 I’ve Only Met Up With This Guy A Couple Times Smh

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If you want to see whether the person you’re texting with might be a potentially good partner for you, the rule of thumb is to move past the messages ASAP. Hop on a call or video chat to see whether there’s any real attraction there.

And, of course, even that is no match for meeting them in person. It’s easier to curate your online image than it is to fake your entire personality during dates.

#19 What A Guy…

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#20 Finally Told This Guy To Leave Me Alone

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#21 American Guy I Dont Know Wont Stop Dming Me

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The r/texts community is very popular, ranking among the top 1% of subreddits. At the time of writing, it boasts 406k members. The idea behind the online group is simple: people post screenshots of funny, weird, or random conversations from their smartphones. However, screenshots from your computer aren’t allowed by the moderators running the popular group.

#22 Guy I Was Casually Talking To Told Me My Teeth Were Yellow

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#23 Went On One Lunch Date With This Guy Yesterday

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#24 That Time I Discovered My Ex-Boyfriend Got Married While We Were Dating

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The mods also point out that screenshots of single messages aren’t allowed either. There needs to be a conversation between two or more people for you to post about it on r/texts. Facebook or X (formerly Twitter) posts also aren’t allowed. Instead, what internet users should focus on are phone texts, as well as messages on WhatsApp, Discord, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, or Telegram. 

#25 Hookup From 1yr Ago Messaged Me

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#26 Conversation With A Guy Who Graduated From My High School In 2015

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#27 Conversation With A Guy I Met On Bumble

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Meanwhile, anyone hoping to be an active member of the group should be careful with what they post. For example, you should not be sharing any personal information in your screenshots. That means no names, usernames, or phone numbers. If they’re in the screenshot, you have to make sure you black them out.

On top of that, the members of r/texts have to mark their posts if they’re not suitable for viewing at work. There’s also a zero-tolerance approach to hate speech. Moreover, the moderators have the right to remove any post or comment at any time in order to maintain the integrity of the group as a whole.

#28 This Guy Who Boasted To His Ex That He's Talking To One Of The Girls He Was Interested In While They Were Together

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#29 Ugh This Guy

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#30 Met This Guy In Person A Few Months Ago And Received This

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What is the weirdest or most uncomfortable conversation that you’ve ever had via text, dear Pandas? Has anyone tried to awkwardly flirt with you by texting you? Do you prefer communicating through text in your day-to-day life? What do you do if someone sends you an awkward or bizarre message?

Tell us what you think in the comments, we’d love to hear your take on this. 

#31 Guy (30m) From Bumble That I’ve (29f) Talked To For A Week But Haven’t Met Yet Gave Me A “Compliment”

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#32 This Guy Just Added Me On Snap From A Dating Site Like Ok???

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#33 Went On 1 Date With This Guy Who Was A Lot Younger Than He Said He Was. Went Downhill After

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#34 I (22f) On A First Date With A Guy (23m) And Instead Of Ghosting I Sent This

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#35 Guy Got Upset I Didn’t Want His D**k Pic

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#36 A Guy Who Ran Into A Woman He Used To Go To Elementary School With, Then Slid Into Her Dms Like This

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#37 5th Time He Has Text Me

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#38 Creepy Uber Delivery Guy

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#39 From A Guy Who Wonders Why I Won’t Give Him A Chance

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#40 Who Hurt This Guy?

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#41 Guy From Dating Site

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#42 Started Talking To This Guy…

Went to the bar and ended up running into a guy friend. Guy I agreed to go on a date with saw and got mad that I was talking to said friend, this is what he’s been texting me

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#43 What’s Wrong With This Guy?

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#44 Obsessive Guy After I Went To A Party Without Him

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#45 A Recent Example Of A Married Guy Hitting On Me

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#46 Guy I Went On One Date With

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#47 First Date, Guy Sends Me This After…

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#48 Guy I Went On Two Dates With

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#49 Guy I Went One Date With 3 Years Ago Hit Me Up Again A Day After I Found A Reel Of His Wedding Invitations

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#50 Met This Guy On Facebook Before A Concert And He Quickly Became Clingy

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#51 "Nice Guy" Shows His True Colors

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#52 Convo With A Guy I Matched With On Hinge

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#53 Guy Was Obsessed With Me

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#54 I Wonder Why This Guy Has A Hard Time With Women

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#55 This Man's Essay Summed Up His True Colors

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#56 Met A Guy At A Hotel Bar. This Is The Reason I Haven't Had A Date Since December

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