A boy must have invented the “delivered” versus “received” system on BBM because he certainly did not take into account the potential torture and agony that would ensue. Don’t get me wrong, I love BBM, yet where do you draw the line on who to add and when it is appropriate to add them? To avoid emotional turmoil, and embarrassing conversations like the one below, I have developed some simple rules.

BBM Conversation Translation
1:54 am R u still up? Drunk text to new guy
1:54 am thx baby – had a great time too J Misdirected message intended to be sent to old guy
2:18am oh! Sorry, wrong person…..lol! eek.. Back peddling!
(messages all received) The glaring “R” shows up on all messages to new guy
2:19am hello??? More Back peddling and slight anger at his non-responsiveness
2:21am k listen, don’t worry about that message – its nothing. ….
2:22am am I ….
2:22am right? ….
2:23am k, well ur prolly sleeping Resignation and acceptance
2:23am are you?? Disbelief
2:24am I am sorry for waking u up… Apologetic
(all messages received) Anger and Rage
12:34pm Yah I was. I was fast asleep and I heard my phone beep 10 times. Good riddance – didn’t like him anyways
  1. Do not engage in drunk-texting, sexting or any type of mobile communication after 1:51am. This will ultimately lead to messages sent to the wrong recipients. #fail
  2. Do not date those that choose to leave your message as “received” with no answer. These individuals are clearly not eager to read your message – how dare they.
  3. There is also a smaller group who choose to leave the messages “delivered” for up to 3 or more hours that could be on the non-date list as well. These individuals are either a) playing games b) industrial strength phone answering control. In either case, you are a phone junkie and need to know things right away and have no patience for either.
  4. If you do choose to place your new “special someone” on your instant message list – first think about the implications: 1. You can be reached 24/7 – do you want to be that available? 2. Unfortunately, deleting will be noticed.
  5. My number one rule going forward with BBM is to just keep it to close friends and family where no miscommunication can occur. If it does, than a simple phone call can alleviate such matters.

Email is sooo 2009, BBM is the new hotness, and in any case it’s more personal than email.

When you add a new contact it’s an open invitation to conversation 24/7. So be mindful and weary as to who you draw into your inner personal mobile space – it can get crowded.