微处理 (Microprocessing)

Of all the different tools and features we use to communicate virtually, read receipts might be one of the most contentious.

在我们用于虚拟通信的所有不同工具和功能中，已读回执可能是最具争议的之一。

“I hate read receipts, especially with men I’m talking to,” says Sarah Solomon, an author based in New York. “It’s such a one-sided power move, like, ‘I’ve chosen to ignore you. Deal with it.’”

纽约的作家莎拉·所罗门(Sarah Solomon)说：“我讨厌阅读收据，尤其是和我聊天的人。” “这是一种单方面的举动，例如，'我选择不理你。 处理它。'”

“If someone is going to read my text, but not respond to it, I don’t need to know about it,” says Rose London, a law clerk in St. Petersburg, Florida. “When I see that ‘read’ with no response, it’s like, well, fuck you too then.”

“如果有人要阅读我的文字，但不是 对此做出回应，我不需要知道。”佛罗里达州圣彼得堡的法律秘书罗斯伦敦说。 “当我看到“读物”没有回应时，那就像，那也他妈的你。”

I have to admit that, while conducting some interviews for this piece via text message and Twitter DMs, I was beginning — for the first time, really — to feel anxious about my own use of read receipts. Here were these passionate haters of read receipts, generously sharing their thoughts with me only to, a few minutes later, see a little checkmark appear beneath their message when I’d finally gotten to it. I still, cautiously, employ read receipts, but for a lot of people, they’re probably better turned off where possible (that is, most platforms other than Facebook and Instagram); they’re stressful, intrusive, and offer little value or information that people actually want.

我必须承认，在通过短信和Twitter DM对这篇文章进行一些采访的同时，我真的(真的是第一次)开始对自己使用已读回执感到焦虑。 这些是对阅读回执的热情讨厌的人，只在几分钟后才与我慷慨地分享了他们的想法，直到我终于明白时，他们的信息下方才出现一个对勾。 我仍然谨慎地使用已读回执，但是对于很多人而言，最好在可能的情况下将它们关闭(即，除Facebook和Instagram以外的大多数平台)； 它们压力大，干扰大，几乎没有提供人们真正想要的价值或信息。

James Lynden, an innovation strategist in Berlin, conducted a small study on the impact of read receipts on conversations and their participants — the first, to his knowledge. The results were not in their favor.

柏林的创新策略师詹姆斯·林登(James Lynden)对阅读回执对谈话及其参与者的影响进行了一项小型研究，这是他所知的第一项研究。 结果不利于他们。

“It’s hard to put a positive angle on them,” he says. “They spark anxiety for people. They stress people out, and often, actually, some people can feel a bit overwhelmed.” This is typically caused because people feel a duty to respond in a timely manner, he says.

他说：“很难对他们持积极态度。” 他们引发了人们的焦虑。 他们向人们施加压力，实际上，实际上，有些人会感到有些不知所措。” 他说，这通常是由于人们感到有责任及时做出回应。

Lynden’s study, which he conducted with co-author Teis Rasmussen and published in 2017 in the Journal of Media, Cognition, and Communication, found people frequently had negative responses to read receipts on apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and Snapchat. While some participants in the study had slightly positive feelings toward read receipts, more people disliked them, and they felt more passionately, too. When receiving a message with a read receipt, most study participants reported negative feelings, such as feeling a pressure to respond (36.6%), annoyed (8.9%), or guilty (29.7%). And 21.8% of participants said they didn’t care.

林登的研究由他与合著者Teis Rasmussen共同进行，并于2017年发表在《媒体，认知和传播杂志》上。研究发现，人们经常对在WhatsApp，Facebook Messenger，iMessage和Snapchat等应用上阅读收据产生负面React。 尽管该研究的一些参与者对阅读收据有些积极的感觉，但更多的人不喜欢它们，他们也更加热情。 当收到带有已读回执的消息时，大多数研究参与者报告说有负面的感觉，例如感到有回应的压力(36.6％)，生气(8.9％)或有罪(29.7％)。 21.8％的参与者表示，他们不在乎。

Other studies conducted since Lynden’s have found similar results. A 2017 study surveyed 718 people about their feelings toward read receipts, finding diverse but generally negative emotional responses to them. Respondents felt upset, angry, and experienced low self-esteem when their messages were read but not responded to. They also reported feeling concerned about the safety of the recipient when messages were left unread. And 2020 research found that people feel bad more quickly when waiting for a response to a message that’s been marked as “read” than one that’s been left unread.

自Lynden以来进行的其他研究也发现了类似的结果。 2017年的一项研究对718人的阅读收据进行了调查，发现他们对阅读收据的看法不同，但总体上是负面的。 阅读但未回应的信息时，受访者会感到沮丧，愤怒和自卑。 他们还报告说，担心邮件未读时收件人的安全。 2020年的一项研究发现，人们在等待对被标记为“已读”的邮件的响应时，比未留下未读邮件的感觉更快。

One of Lynden’s most interesting findings is that people will frequently find creative ways to put off opening a message if they know it’ll generate a read receipt. “There’s almost this portfolio of avoidance strategies” people implement to avoid opening a message and sparking a read receipt to pop up beneath it, says Lynden. Nearly every participant (93%) in his study copped to using avoidance strategies, such as not opening a message, reading only the message snippet that shows up on the user’s screen, or turning off read receipts entirely, to avoid sending a read receipt before the recipient is ready to respond. A 2016 study investigating how students feel “permanently online” found that 43% of participants often postpone opening a message to avoid sending a read receipt.

Lynden最有趣的发现之一是，如果人们知道一条消息会产生已读回执，他们就会经常发现创造性的方法来推迟打开一条消息。 Lynden说：“人们几乎采用了一系列避免策略，以免打开邮件并引发已读回执。 几乎每个研究参与者(93％)都使用回避策略，例如不打开消息，仅阅读用户屏幕上显示的消息片段或完全关闭已读回执，以避免在发送之前已发送已读回执收件人已准备好响应。 一项2016年的调查研究了学生对“永久在线”的感觉，发现43％的参与者经常推迟打开邮件以避免发送已读回执。

“I tend to like people better when I discover they have them turned on.”

“当我发现人们将他们打开时，我会更喜欢他们。”

But this also points to one of the more positive aspects of read receipts — that they can compel people who are bad at replying to texts to, well, actually respond. I’m pretty bad at this, often taking days or, um, even longer to answer texts, even from the people I’m closest to. The read receipt helps, a little bit, in pushing me to sit down and respond to a text once I’ve read it; if I’m not ready to devote time and energy to the text, there’s probably no need to read it, either.

但这也指向已读回执的更积极方面之一，即它们可以迫使不善于回复文本的人做出实际回应。 我对此很不好，甚至连我最亲密的人也要花几天甚至更长的时间才能回答文字。 阅读的收据在一定程度上有助于推动我坐下来，并在阅读完文字后做出回应； 如果我还不准备花时间和精力在文本上，那么也可能无需阅读。

Carmen Bush, an instructional designer in Oakland, California, says she loves read receipts because they compel her to be a better communicator. “I hate when other people don’t have them on, because I think other people should take more responsibility for their communication habits. ‘I’m a bad texter’ is just a stupid ass thing to say,” she says. “Work on it! Use the tools available to you like turning on read receipts to get better! I became a much more present and authentic communicator when I turned them on.”

加利福尼亚奥克兰的教学设计师卡门·布什(Carmen Bush)说，她喜欢阅读收据，因为它们迫使她成为更好的交流者。 “我讨厌别人没有他们，因为我认为别人应该为自己的交流习惯承担更多责任。 她说：“我是一个不好的发短信人”，这只是愚蠢的说法。 “在...上下功夫！ 使用您可用的工具，例如打开已阅读的收据以变得更好！ 当我打开它们时，我成为了一个更加真实和真实的交流者。”

Plus, she adds, “I tend to like people better when I discover they have them turned on.”

另外，她补充说：“当我发现人们打开了他们的电话时，我会更喜欢他们。”

Multiple people told me they like the sense of accountability read receipts enforces in their conversational habits. Ordinarily, if someone says something to you in person, you in some way indicate that you’ve heard them and are processing the information, usually with some kind of body language or a verbal response (alternatively, you could, of course, pretend you hadn’t heard them at all). A read receipt is just that, a receipt — acknowledgment that you’ve heard what the other person has to say. For some, without it, it’s too easy to drift away from the conversation without giving it the attention it deserves.

多人告诉我，他们喜欢阅读收据在他们的会话习惯中所表现出的责任感。 通常，如果有人亲自向您说了些话，您通常会以某种肢体语言或口头回应(表示，您当然会假装自己)以某种方式表明您已听见他们并正在处理该信息。根本听不到他们)。 已读回执就是回执，即表示您已听清了对方要说的内容。 对于某些人来说，如果没有它，很容易在不给予应有的关注的情况下偏离对话。

Part of the problem is that text messaging is stuck in a weird purgatory between synchronous and asynchronous communication. Synchronous communication is like a phone conversation: participants respond to each other in real time, without much delay. Asynchronous conversations include conversations such as emails, which typically don’t require an immediate response.

问题的一部分是文本消息卡在同步和异步通信之间的怪异炼狱中。 同步通信就像电话交谈：参与者可以实时相互响应，而不会产生太多延迟。 异步对话包括诸如电子邮件之类的对话，通常不需要立即响应。

Texts, though, are neither or both, depending on how you look at it. They’re the new generation of chat platforms like AOL Instant Messenger, which back in the day was mostly synchronous. You sat down at your computer, and for an hour or two (or, if you were a teenager at the time, like me, late into the night) you had conversations with people, more or less in real time. If you stepped away from your computer, you put up a moody away message (“I keep on talkin’ trash but I never say anything”; “I am a visitor here, I am not permanent”) so people knew you wouldn’t immediately respond. If you forgot, you’d show up as “idle” after 15 minutes of no activity.

但是，文本取决于您的看法，两者都不是或两者兼而有之。 它们是新一代的聊天平台，例如AOL Instant Messenger，在过去大多数时候都是同步的。 您坐在电脑前，坐了一两个小时(或者，如果像我这样的少年，到深夜)，您或多或少地与人们进行了实时对话。 如果您离开计算机，则会发出喜怒无常的信息(“我一直在说话，但我从来没说什么”；“我是这里的访客，我不是永久性的”)，所以人们知道您不会立即回应。 如果您忘记了，则在15分钟没有活动后就会显示为“空闲”。

For some, without a read receipt, it’s too easy to drift away from the conversation without giving it the attention it deserves.

对于某些没有阅读回执的人来说，很容易在不给予应有的关注的情况下离开对话。

With text messaging, you’re assumed to always be sort of available. Conversations are always halfway happening, which can add to insecurity and a lack of clarity around response times. Read receipts help set boundaries around a conversation. If you’ve read it, it can be assumed that if the text requires a response, it’ll be coming shortly.

随着短信，你认为永远是那种可用。 对话总是半途而废，这会加剧不安全感，并且响应时间不够清晰。 阅读回执有助于设定对话范围。 如果您已经阅读过，可以认为如果文本需要答复，很快就会来。

Peter Nguyen, a personal stylist based in New York, loves read receipts for this reason. They train him to respond, he says. “It helps me avoid using my phone when I need to concentrate. When I know I’d want to respond to messages if I check, I put my phone away so I can focus,” he says. “I basically treat text convos like a conversation I’d have with you or someone in person… I wish we could go offline and slam the door via text message.” If he can’t carry on a text conversation, he says he’s busy and will text back later.

纽约的个人造型师Peter Nguyen出于这个原因喜欢阅读收据。 他说，他们训练他做出回应。 “这有助于我避免在需要集中精力时使用手机。 当我知道要检查时想回复消息时，我就把手机放开以便集中精力。”他说。 “基本上，我将文字交流视为与您或亲自与他人进行的对话……我希望我们可以离线并通过文字信息来敲门。” 如果他无法进行文本对话，他说他很忙，稍后再发短信。

Without read receipts, it’s easier to read a text message, put it away, and forget to respond, creating anxiety in the recipient as to whether or not you ever read it or intend to reply at all. But read receipts compel the user to attend to a conversation with as much focus as possible by reading and responding within the same time frame. The 2016 “permanently online” study found that read receipts compel people to respond to texts more quickly than they would otherwise; it’s also the only study I was able to find that compared having read receipts on to having them off. (Others primarily focused on the impact of having them on, leading people “left on read,” — reading the text without responding — and so on.)

没有阅读的收据，阅读一条短信，收起它并忘记回复就容易了，这使收件人对您是否读过或打​​算回信感到焦虑。 但是阅读回执会迫使用户在同一时间段内阅读和回复，从而尽可能集中精力进行对话。 2016年的“永久在线”研究发现，阅读回执可以使人们对文本的回复比以往更快。 这也是我能够找到的唯一一项研究，它与将收据与注销有关。 (其他人主要集中在使他们受到影响，导致人们“继续阅读”，阅读文本而没有回应等)。

Read receipts can also help in a disaster scenario, according to Yuuki Kato, a professor at Sagami Women’s College in Japan who has researched how read receipts impact senders and recipients. “In the event of a disaster, we can check the safety of the recipient,” he says. “In Japan, when big earthquakes occur, I strongly appreciate the read receipts.” His 2017 study, which points out that the popular messaging app Line implemented read receipts after the 2011 earthquake in Japan, found that people feel anxious when their messages go unread, because they worry for the recipient’s safety. The read receipt shows to the sender that the recipient is, at the very least, safe enough to read their texts.

日本相模女子大学的教授Yuuki Kato说，已读回执还可以在灾难情况下提供帮助。 他说：“万一发生灾难，我们可以检查收件人的安全。” “在日本，发生大地震时，我非常感谢阅读的收据。” 他在2017年的研究中指出，广受欢迎的消息传递应用程序Line在2011年日本地震后实施了已读回执，发现人们在看不见消息时会感到焦虑，因为他们担心收件人的安全。 已读回执向发件人表明收件人至少有足够的安全来阅读其文本。

Still, most of the research — which, to be clear, is still limited — doesn’t fall in favor of read receipts in many cases. I’ll still keep them on, because my circle of texting friends is limited, and there’s little anxiety on anyone’s side about the status of the relationship (to my knowledge, anyway). Were I dating, or if I was texting with a boss, I’d probably turn them off: I’d prefer utmost privacy with both classes of people. But for everyone else, I’ll get to your text as soon as I can.

尽管如此，大多数研究(很显然仍是有限的)在许多情况下并不支持阅读回执。 我仍然保持联系，因为我发短信的朋友圈子有限，而且任何一方都对这种关系的状态几乎没有焦虑(据我所知)。 是在约会还是在向老板发短信时，我可能会关闭它们：我希望两类人都享有最大的私密性。 但是对于其他所有人，我会尽快处理。