Read, Seen, Opened – the consequences of a life of read receipts in modern instant messaging –
The twitter feed ‘Modern Seinfeld’ tweets out suggestions for plot points as if the hit 80s-90s sitcom, Seinfeld, continued today. The tweets sometimes create plotlines that would’ve fit in with its original time period, but also feature adjustments to modern life such as Tinder dating culture, texting, autocorrect miscommunications, etc… (@SeinfeldToday) Surprisingly, I didn’t find one about a possible plotline regarding read receipts on instant messaging or texting services. However, it’s easy to see the possibility of such a plot – George freaks out when a girl he is dating reads his message but then doesn’t respond, thus leaving a «seen» read receipt at the bottom of his text to her. George: «Why did she never respond? It’s common courtesy to send at least something back! ‘Lemme get back to you’, ‘yes’ or ‘no’, maybe even just an ‘okay’? Why let people know that you’re reading their messages and not responding?» Then in a very Seinfeldian manner, George would end up freaking out too much and cancelling any further dates with her even though she was really interested in him and just a poor communicator.
Maybe it wouldn’t be that great of an episode, but it certainly illustrates the point that read receipts have introduced a change to the space surrounding texting and instant messaging services culture as opposed to their original nature.
“The question of architecture is in fact that of the place, of the taking place in space. The establishing of a place which didn’t exist until then and is in keeping with what will take place there one day, that is a place.” (Derrida)
“the invention of the read receipt has created the obligation to respond”
According to Derrida, the architecture of the nature of texts, has taken a space and made it more of a place because what once wasn’t there, has now constructed a place where there was nothing before. Just as the word «acoustic guitar» was created after the invention of the «electric guitar,» because prior to its invention, it was simply called the guitar. Likewise, the invention of the read receipt has created the obligation to respond when a text has been ‘seen’. The invention of the read receipt led to the ability to turn on and off read receipts, but this only turned on the obligation to keep read receipts active with particular groups.
A study conducted by Lujayn Alhddad at the Rochester Institute of Technology studied the specific correlation of willingness to use read receipts among over 800 individuals. The study found (perhaps unsurprisingly so) that individuals in committed relationships were much more likely to have read receipts turned on and much more likely to expect read receipts from their committed other half than others in less committed relationships.
Furthermore, the study showed that in the three sets of relationships analyzed, individuals always expected read receipts from others at a higher rate than they expected themself to provide read receipts for others. In a committed relationship, people are 20% more likely to expect read receipts as opposed to provide them, nearly 30% more likely in a close friendship, and over 40% more likely to expect them with distant friendships. (Alhddad)
There are several possible explanations for this, but I believe one Foucauldian interpretation is most likely correct; Speaking about the panopticon and societies of control, «He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection» (Foucault)
Simply put, there is an expectation among those that subscribe to read receipt culture, that those who see and read a text are more likely to respond because they feel societally obligated knowing that their texting partner may have seen the ‘read’ ‘seen’ or ‘opened’ indicator. Without knowing if anyone is truly monitoring them, they become their own monitor who is both jailer and prisoner. Knowing this, it would also explain the reasoning behind why individuals expect others to look at their texts, knowing that those others will conscript themselves to responding, and explains why individuals have less interest in having read receipts turned on for themselves.
“those who see and read a text are more likely to respond because they feel societally obligated knowing that their texting partner may have seen the ‘read’ ‘seen’ or ‘opened’ indicator”
Now, back to the Modern Seinfeld example. Suppose that this mysterious woman that George is dating is actually not a poor communicator, but is reading his texts and not responding on purpose? Passive agressive? Yes. Deconstructionist? Also yes.
Deconstructionism is not about destroying the way something works – so it wouldn’t be deconstructionist to simply turn off the ability to use read receipts, but it analyzes the architectural structure allowing the individual to see what it is attempting to do. (Derrida) Understanding that the read receipt attempts to force oneself to self monitor and therefore respond to a text allows the individual to then decide if they will follow that societal obligation or not.
Perhaps someone like Ferdinand de Saussure wouldn’t have liked to receive passive aggressive read receipts anymore than our fan-fictional George Costanza, but he would’ve at least understood that though a creator may have had a specific intention in mind when they created the thing, it is up to the individuals out in the world to use it in any context that they wish. (Saussure)
So is there a way to use read receipts correctly? Should we have them on always with everyone? Should we have them turned off for everyone? Decidedly, there is no perfect answer, but following the study data mentioned earlier can at least tell us what the majority of people think. Close relationships with a spouse or significant other are considered much more important to share read receipts with than a close or distant friendship. Though people in every category are less interested in sharing read receipts than receiving them, it is clear that the majority of people still feel like they have more obligation to show read receipts to a significant other than their expectation to receive read receipts from a distant friend/stranger. So follow your gut, but you’re likely gonna match with the majority of others.
References –
Modern Seinfeld (@SeinfeldToday) https://twitter.com/seinfeldtoday?lang=en
Derrida, Jacques. “Architecture Where the Desire May Live.” Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory, edited by Neil Leach, Routledge, 1997, pp. 317–336.
Alhddad, Lujayn. Rochester Institute of Technology, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015.
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‘Read’ – Read receipt notification for WhatsApp
‘Seen’ – Read receipt notification for iPhone
‘Opened’ – Read receipt notification for SnapChat
Saussure, Ferdinand de. Cours de linguistique générale. Bibliothèque Scientifique Payot, 1985. “la langue créée par lui serait emportée bon gré mal gré par le courant qui entraîne toutes les langues”