GoT: The Game of Texting

I gotta make a complaint about why we play the Game of Texting. Although you might be unfamiliar with the name I assigned to the activity, you'll know darn well what it is once I describe it.
So you get a text (or message on facebook, but I'll just refer to it as "text" as well) from a person you're interested in. How many of you will text back immediately? Probably less than 5% of you. You'd wait at least 10 minutes for some, a couple of hours for others, and even almost an entire day for still others, before you text them back. Why do we do this? I mean, it's become such a habit that it's almost instinctual to wait for a certain amount of time before texting back.

The only thing that I think of for reasons for doing so is that you want to show them you have a life of your own, and they they are playing second fiddle compared with the rest of your life. Maybe this is also your way of showing that you're not needy or clingy. Maybe you'll hope that by delaying the text, the other person would go, "Oh my. The other person didn't text me back for a long time, I wonder if he's busy?"

Which brings me to a second point, which is that a delay of texting can make the person on the other end think about you more. They would wonder why, after several days of straight texting back and forth, you'd suddenly stop texting for a day? And it will drive them crazy wondering why you didn't text back. I must admit I am guilty of that yesterday while texting with Ms. Zun. I texted her in the morning, then I didn't log on Facebook until late at night, of which I saw more of her texts, but I ignored them for the time being until today, which I then texted her in the morning. The reason for doing so is because I was playing the game as well. I am worried that if I am available to talk to her everyday after 9pm, it will become habitual for her, and she won't appreciate my time as much, and take our chats for granted. I don't want that. I want her to wonder about me, so I guess my not texting her back is my way of piquing her curiosity and interest about me. Maybe this is perverted logic, I don't know. I'm just playing by society's rules...

But then why do these "unwritten rules" suddenly disappear when you're texting your friends? If my guy friends text me, I'll text them right back. In the end, they're still my friends, and they don't think any less of me. If you're able to text your friends fine without playing the Game of Texts, then why can't you text the person you like with the same regular way?

I haven't spent enough time to contemplate this theory and to grasp all the subtleties of why we do it. I'll revisit this topic later on when I'm done my exam today.