Why do i delete text messages before sending them?

[MarkM]

I’ve noticed that when I’m texting with someone new, I’ll sometimes send a message and then immediately delete it before they can see it. It’s like I get a sudden wave of overthinking about how my tone might be read or if the joke is awkward. Does anyone else do this, or am I just being weirdly anxious about digital communication?

[Jerry_W]

Yeah me too. I’ll draft a quick line and after a beat I delete it because my brain tells me the tone might come off wrong. It feels like a wave of overthinking after hitting send, and I end up stopping myself from sending at all.

[Luke.W]

I tried sending it anyway, cringy and all, and often the other person just replies normally. Sometimes I get a small win when they say something kind, and I think maybe I overreacted in the first place.

[MarkRJ]

Could the real issue be fear of rejection rather than the actual words?

[JohnS]

There was a time I drifted off topic about a coffee order in a chat, edited the message to fix punctuation, and then deleted it. Then I realized the chat kept moving and I was still stuck in my head about how it sounded. It’s silly but true.