#also can't forget because i don't know et dont have to know and dont care please get that

[weldnas]

don’t forget to say she’s racist tho !

Wildest dream was a white Africa fr

[dissociativedoe]

I've seen a lot of debates against tone tags that boil down to "nobody will remember all of those acronyms," and the main issue with that is. well. People have been making shorthand for things for a long time?

I remember being a kid and hearing adults around me complain about "text talk:" OMG, LOL, LMAO, WTF, the infamous ASL, etc. (and hey, did you know "etc." is shorthand, too? it's short for the latin phrase "et cetera.")

They balked that it was unprofessional, that kids would forget how to spell, or that nobody would be able to "talk proper" (whatever that means). But another complaint I remember hearing is that they didn't know what all of it meant. I mean, teens were coming up with new acronyms all the time. How are we supposed to keep up with deciphering their texts?

And nowadays, it's commonplace. Most people know what LOL and OMG mean, and how to use them. Teachers and old folks might still say they're unprofessional or that the youth doesn't know how to spell anymore, but that's about the extent of it.

The key thing about tone tags is that they were a shorthand language made as an accessibility tool. The point is to help you convey tone, which can prevent a lot of misunderstanding - especially if you're autistic like me, but just in general to prevent miscommunication.

Yeah, sometimes they can be confusing, and some are similar enough to get mixed up. But that's true for a lot of shorthand - hell, i still take a minute to figure out what someone means by ADA.

I'm not going to lie, some of them are similar enough in meaning as well that they're almost the same. I still can't tell the difference between /lh and /hj, but if that distinction matters to the person using it, who cares?

I've seen people just say "use your words" as an alternative - say "I'm being sarcastic" instead of /s, "(not talking about anybody here, don't worry)" instead of /nbh. The issue I run into is that I hugely struggle with words when socializing. And especially when you're non- or semi-verbal, that phrasing is hard, and it's clunky. Twitter and most phone messaging services also still have character limits, and an already-lengthy message may not have room for longer clarification. And again, as has always been the way with texting, people are always going to find shorthand to say what they mean. Are you going to start telling people to say "I seriously just laughed out loud" instead of "LOL?"

If you dont want to talk to people who use tone tags or if you refuse to use them yourself because you think they're stupid or whatever, that's fine. Nobody is forcing you to, and you have the right to avoid them. But that also means that others have a right to not want to talk to you if you outright refuse to use them when it's a tool they prefer or need.

If you don't know what the tone tag is short for, you can always ask. If you just want people to stick with the basics (/s, /j or /hj) when talking to you, that's also fine. But I really don't think it's fair to insinuate that people who use tone tags are bad people for... *checks notes* trying to convey tone and intent in a way that's short and easy for them.

TL;DR: Shorthand and acronyms have been used in texting for a long time; why are tone tags any different? Tone tags are a tool used to prevent miscommunication in a shorter space. If you don't know what one means, you can always ask.