You feel relentless to know why this is happening. Many things are going through your head. Is he not responding to your texts? Did he leave mid-conversation again? We keep assigning various interpretations to different texting behavior. If somebody is a fast responder, then he is interested in you, and vice-versa. Let’s give this a few shades instead of splitting it all into black and white! What does it mean when he texts you but doesn’t continue the conversation? Here are 12 reasons why he texts you but doesn’t keep the conversation going:
1. He doesn’t want to come off as needy
Men as well as women, do contemplate how to respond to a text. A lot of thought and time is spent to come up with the perfect answer, especially during the early stages of dating. However, he might be afraid he is being pushy with you. He doesn’t want to come off as clingy. Hence the hesitation to keep the conversation going. He might as well think that you are annoyed by his texting. That’s why he keeps it at a minimum. He is worried about what you think and stops texting. Overthinking his actions might just be what’s keeping him from continuing the conversation.
2. He doesn’t want to bother you
If he thinks that his texting is pestering you, he’ll stop altogether. In no way does he want to bug you when you are busy. Thus, he might leave the conversation unfinished. Of course, he’ll do so if he gets the sense that you’re uninterested or simply busy either texting other people or just busy in life. He doesn’t want to make a bad impression on you by texting you too much.
3. He doesn’t know what to say
Not everyone has great texting abilities. He is perhaps bad at maintaining a conversation online. He quickly runs out of things to say. He asks the usual questions but then doesn’t know what to say next. He might be afraid to ask anything personal and doesn’t want to come out as weird. Also, your answers might not give him much to keep the conversation going. So check with yourself too.
4. He is shy
Texting does not come easy to shy people. He might be one of those people. The constant wariness of his texts is keeping him away from replying to yours. He wants to give you some space and time to set up the pace yourself. And by seeing how you react, he’ll mirror your behavior.
5. He wants you to engage and reciprocate
Today the texting game has changed so much. There are more rules than ever before. But many of those rules act as obstacles as to what to do next. So if he texts you first, then stops mid-conversation, he might just be waiting for you to continue it, to engage, and reciprocate. By doing this, he’ll get to know your level of investment and interest. Because the texting speed, initiative, and response type (long or short) are good indicators of how one person is interested in the other. And this might just be his way of seeing your level of interest in him.
6. He has a lot of things to do: he’s busy
He is just busy and might not have time to respond to your texts. The life dynamic keeps becoming hectic. Not every one of us has the luxury of stopping everything at a second and focusing on texting a person for hours If he takes the time to be very elaborate on his replies afterward, it supports the idea that he is a busy man. You shouldn’t expect a lot of texting in the first stages of dating/seeing somebody. This is a time when you are testing the waters and deciding whether you’d like to keep going or not. Do not let this discourage you. Just give it a bit of time.
7. He is socially awkward
Social interaction might just not be his thing. He is awkward around people and doesn’t know what to say or do. All the same, these features can be shown through his texting. There is the wish to keep going with the conversation, but he just doesn’t know how to do that. It’s hard for him to continue because he feels like he’s a thorn in your side, you are not interested in him, and he’s making a fool of himself.
8. He just wants to remind you of himself: he’s playing
This kind of texting acts as a poking social system. It’s like a reminder that he is there, but he’s unwilling to stay for long. He’s wanting to remind you of himself, initiates a conversation, but doesn’t continue it since he accomplished his mission: reminded you that he exists. His texting contains day-to-day questions such as:
How are you doing?What’s up?What’s new?
He wants to know about your day and check in with you. Or he is texting to schedule the next date. Many guys use texting as a primary tool for setting up face-to-face meetings. And it is possible he might not like using it to communicate all the time.
9. He is asking for validation
There is nothing going on in his life right now, so he’s talking to you to fill that void. You are his second option when things are getting boring. He wants to talk to you since he knows that you always answer. And it boosts his ego to know that there is someone that can’t wait to talk to him. When the second something better comes along, he leaves you on read.
10. He’s looking for physical intimacy only
Not texting consistently is a form of expressing his interest or lack of interest in you. This way of texting is implying that you don’t interest him regularly. He texts you only when he wants something from you. That can be favors or sex. The idea of using you for just sex is not foreign if you have fallen for his suggestion before. Now that he knows you are available for him to meet his interests, he’ll breadcrumb you to keep you around so that you’re there when he needs you.
11. He is not interested
Unfortunately, lack of interest in you or a connection with you is one of the reasons why men text you every now and then, but don’t keep the conversation going. The standard narrative has it, if he is interested in you, he’ll try to keep the conversation going and not let it die. You will know it from the type of questions he asks, his approach to you, the conversation, and his attempts to keep in touch with you. If he asks personal and deep questions, that’s a pretty good sign he’s interested in you. However, if he keeps the conversation on the surface level, short, and to the point, it might imply that he is not that interested in you.
12. He’s aiming at your friend
This is a common possibility as well. Are his texts generally directed at knowing more about your friends? Do you get questions such as:
When are you guys hanging out?
Is Sheila joining you?
What’s her dating status right now?
Is she seeing anyone?
It is pretty clear that you are not of interest to him. He is texting you to get more information on your friend.
13. Prior bad experiences
Negative experiences might have led him to not be much of a responsive texter. Other people might have ghosted him or told him that he is being clingy and needy. Of course, these are issues that are solvable, especially easily if dealt with the help of a trusted therapist. Such bitter experiences can easily result in a withdrawn and very cautious approach when it comes to texting or keeping a conversation going. If that’s the case for him, it surely is manifesting its own way.
14. He might not know how to react to your text(s)
Depending on what you two are texting about, sometimes, you might be at loss for words. When you’re not sure what to text next, you can easily get into an overthinking balloon from which you won’t know how to get out unless you take some time to cool off. Texting you might be his attempt to keep in touch with you, and not keeping the conversation going might be his inability to respond.
15. He’s not much into texting: He’d rather have an in-person conversation
Some people simply don’t like texting and virtual communication in general. If he’s one of those people, he might text you to start a conversation for the next date or to simply not lose touch with you. He’s saving the good stuff for when he sees you in person!
What to do about it? How do I get him to keep the conversation going?
Should I have waited 2 hours to get back at him? Did I answer too quickly? Am I coming off as desperate? Well, no. You shouldn’t be playing mind games and tricks, although not getting a response from the guy you texted is quite nerve-wracking. You start to wonder whether you did something wrong, whether you said something, whether you asked the right questions or not. There’s no right formula for texting for all out there. Everyone has their own texting style, way of communicating their thoughts, and their ways of expressing themselves. Well, here are a few tips for you on what to do when he texts you but doesn’t keep the conversation going: – Don’t push his boundaries, don’t push him any further. Avoid over-explaining, and overwhelming him with information. – Avoid generic questions. He might not like them, hence the hesitation to participate in a text conversation. – Keep it real. Avoid pretending to be someone else and going out of your way to ‘make him stay a bit longer this time’. – No double-texting: Avoid sending him a second text after a few hours because he didn’t answer the first one. – Make the conversations fun, send him funny texts, flirty texts, something to make him want to engage further. Give him a chance, and try to see his behavior and approach towards you outside of texting. Love, Callisto
