Determining emotions through text is hard because you are excluded from any social cues or body language signs.
He might text you and ignore you because he is angry/disappointed about something you might have addressed, or he’s just fooling around with you in his spare time.
Why did he text in the first place?!
You don’t have to rack your brain to excuse his behavior anymore!
Here are 14 reasons why he texted and then ignored you:
1. He’s playing a game with you
A guy will text you and then ignore your replies when he doesn’t care much about your feelings and is just trying to fool you.
By appearing and disappearing he manages to maintain a dynamic in which you’re left waiting for him or doing your best to keep him around.
It can feel as if you’re just a temporary distraction to boost his ego.
When you text him back, you validate his ego and he will continue ignoring your texts and just keep you in his game.
2. He wants to seem busy
He might not be doing anything at all when you reply to him, but he just chose to ignore it because he wants to seem difficult to contact.
Of course, he might be busy with work/school that is keeping him from his phone, nonetheless, practice isn’t something that you should completely rule out.
Just like women, guys don’t want to seem too readily available to the other person and seem less of a challenge.
He wants you to pursue him a little bit too.
So might text you and then ignore your text to show that you aren’t his top priority and that there are other important matters that he has to handle.
3. The conversation wasn’t worth continuing
Conversations that are boring and are going nowhere are why he texts and then ignores you.
Because he doesn’t feel the need to strain himself to drag the conversation along.
The text you sent him back is also important in determining whether it required an answer, or it was a general agreement statement.
If it was the latter, a guy will ignore your text because he thinks that there is no need to reply to a neutral text.
There is no need to confirm something that has already been agreed upon, and that’s why you won’t get a response.
4. He isn’t willing to put the effort into keeping the conversation going
His day was getting boring and to have a bit of fun, he decided to text you…
However, you might have taken your time to respond and now he isn’t interested anymore.
You might have gone a bit back and forth before he decided to ignore your texts because he isn’t curious to get to know you better, but rather is concerned with himself.
Putting in little to no investment will give him the upper hand and the power in the relationship because he will have less to lose than you do.
5. He doesn’t know what to reply with
Not all men are great texters and good conversation makers.
So when he texts and then ignores you is because he isn’t sure what to say and is taking his time to collect his thoughts.
You might have texted him something that is taking him a bit to deconstruct and is overthinking his reply in fear.
Perhaps, he might be a bit socially awkward and he is shyer through text than when you meet face to face.
If you have been able to get a grasp of his personality, then decide upon prior experience whether he is ignoring you or something else is restraining him.
6. He might be engaged in something else
Perhaps the situation imposed upon him to ignore your text right after he texted. There might be a series of events that might have followed his text:
- He fell asleep;
- Something distracted him;
- Got engaged in a project or video games;
Therefore, he might have unintentionally ignored you, and since a lot of time has passed since the time you replied, he feels awkward to text back.
When a guy texts and then ignores you, it isn’t always intentional.
Sometimes it’s just things getting in the way and forgetting that he even has a phone to check. He could be dealing with something.
7. His lunch break might have ended
He texted and then ignored you because he texted you during his break. After his lunch break is done, he’s got to get back to work!
If you had answered in that 30-minute time frame that you got the text, you might have engaged in a back-and-forth conversation.
Now, he has to wait until he finishes his work to get back to you, which might take a couple of hours.
However, spending his break willingly on you might be an indicator that he is interested in you, among calling right after work, explaining why he didn’t text back for so long, and giving you his sincere apology.
8. He’s trying to make you like him more by disappearing
After texting you, a guy might be ignoring you as a strategy to hook you in and to make you think about him more.
In other words, he’s playing a little hard to get. Because what isn’t easily obtainable stimulates the brain into finding it more attractive.
Your brain automatically will be searching for reasons that might be holding him back, so he’ll be in your mind for sure!
Thus, instead of sitting around and letting his strategy work, continue your day like you usually would and try pushing him in the back of your mind to interrupt your workflow.
9. He is no longer interested in you
Your efforts play a significant role in keeping him interested.
There is a middle ground that you need to be on in order not to come too strong or not interested.
If you take too long to answer him, that will cause a decrease in his interest in you because you will seem as if you’re not interested in him.
Playing hard to get is productive until you don’t cross the boundaries of being unreachable.
When you do, he won’t waste his time chasing you, instead, he will let go.
Your behavior towards him might be mirrored, so you need to treat him like you want to be treated.
A guy will text you and then ignore you when he feels like you aren’t interested in him which will be met with the same loss of interest.
10. He’s talking to someone else as well
Other people he’s talking to might be what’s keeping him busy from texting you and ignoring your replies until he is done with them.
When he texts and then ignores you it is because he’s consumed by the female attention that he gets from his other flings which makes him forget about you.
Because he might have obtained what he was looking for such as sex, attention, and a stroke of ego, he chooses to ignore your texts.
11. He’s avoiding seeming desperate
You might have gotten the text and then he started ignoring you right after you replied because he doesn’t want to leave you with the impression that he’s needy.
Nowadays, replying quickly to a text is interpreted as being desperate for attention, thus, he fears that you will perceive him as such.
Because he might like you, he’s just being careful with his actions not to create something that might drive you apart.
Also, in past relationships, he might have been told that his constant texting is bothersome, and is making him look clingy.
As a result, when he texts he will ignore your reply for an amount of time, then come back to avoid seeming desperate or clingy.
12. He might not be committed to your relationship
Among other reasons why he texts you and then ignores you is also the lack of will to commit to the connection with you.
If you have just started dating, his ignoring your reply might be because he isn’t as serious about your relationship as you are.
A guy might text and ignore you because he isn’t as involved and invested in you as you might be in him.
There is no commitment. You can sense that he isn’t as involved as he was in the beginning and you feel like you are left out.
13. It was impulsive behavior
There might have been no intention other than an impulsive behavior that he might have regretted later, reasoning why he ignored you when you texted him back.
He might have been in some kind of mood, or something happened and texting you made him feel better, but he had no intention of continuing the conversation.
When you texted him back, he might have already gotten the information he needed such as a life update or whether you’d respond, and then ignored you.
14. You have offended him
He might be in love with you but something you might have said unintentionally hurt him and now he’s choosing to ignore you.
Open communication isn’t easily established, hence we choose indirect ways of communication, especially in the early stages of dating.
Silent treatments are often a way for people to show their dissatisfaction and make a point.
In this case, it could be that he’s trying to give you the space to figure it out yourself.
Did you say something offensive?
Should I let him go since he’s ignoring my replies?
Every relationship is special in the construction of common values and morals, and there is not an all-around formula you can use.
Before jumping into any momentary rush decision that you might regret later, you need to take your time and consider if you’re being treated according to your values.
– Address the problem before finalizing your decision to not leave room for regret and tie any loose ends.
If he isn’t a partner but someone you have just started seeing, send him a text which explains why his behavior isn’t accepted by your life values.
Be short and to the point. Avoid leaving room for ambiguity. Here is one text you can copy and paste:
“Hey, I am not okay with dismissive behavior. It goes against my values and it’s something I don’t do to others and expect the same from them. If you are no longer interested, we can just end things here. No hard feelings.”
Don’t let your mind be flooded with unnecessary reasons to excuse his behavior. You should do whatever you think it’s right.
– Consider your well-being.
You need to sit down and question yourself those hard questions that you’re too afraid to ask.
Am I being taken for granted?
Is this who I am?
What has made me compliant with this behavior?
What would the high-value me do?
Prioritizing yourself isn’t a crime. You can only care and handle others when you can do it for yourself first.
– Let yourself feel all the emotions without trying to cage them in.
You are allowed to feel and let him know that his behavior is immature.
It isn’t clingy behavior to stand up for yourself and say stop to unfair treatment.
Reach out to someone who can help you, communicate your feelings, and don’t be afraid to choose yourself.
Tell him what’s on your mind, and do it calmly and respectfully.
If he’s inconsiderate of your approach and concerns, make the right decision for you. You know what it is already!
Love,
Callisto
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