If someone sends you a message saying "Hey, thought you'd like this".....

[ContessaLovesTheSunshine]

....how do you reply?

Let's assume for the sake of argument that the sender is a member of your social circle whom you've known for a few years and have chatted to plenty of times (i.e. definitely not a randomer/spam).

What does the ‘this’ refer to?Was there a photo/ picture or something attached with the message?

Depends what the thing is - context makes a huge difference!

“Thanks will take a look”. Then ignore if it’s not your thing.

I would reply
A 😂 if it's funny
A 😮 if I was shocked
Or 😍 if it was cute

Impossible to say without more info

Is it a song? Is the sender of your preferred gender for relationships? If so... I have one thing to say: mixtape. You remember what they meant back in the day right?!?!

If it is a dick pic then obviously.... not.

What is it? A dick? A pickle? Puppies in an Easter basket?

Context!

It would usually be a link to something online: an article, a YouTube video (I.e. linked to music genre they like), a particularly funny pair of shorts that sort of thing! Nothing remotely crude (I'm surprisingly proper).

It will always have some link to their stated interests/line of work.

None of the items of interest could be remotely construed as romantic, and that is not their aim!

Possibly with an emoji, but quite often if I get sent a link I’ll forget to look at it, to be honest! A screenshot would grab my attention more and get an instant reply.

What is it? A dick? A pickle? Puppies in an Easter basket?

Properly laughing here

OP, I'd just reply with "Yes that's good/nice/funny/whatever".

Why do you ask?

Well you could say “Thanks for thinking of me!” Or “What, are you crazy? Never darken my phone again!” And anything in between depending on what they sent and what you thought of it.,

These sort of messages are exactly what emojis were made for:

😊😍😂👍😭😱🤢💩😴 etc

Ok so if it's nothing dodgy, why are you asking? Some people just like sharing things they think are funny. I get sent them sometimes - I usually just send back a lol emoji even if its crap - just to be nice. There's worse things people can do than try to make you smile

Because whenever I send such a message I never get an answer and I had honestly started to wonder if I was committing a dreadful social faux pas or something

I don't send them frequently, or to the same person more than once every - I don't know, maybe every 2 months or so? They always get read, and no-one ever says anything in reply.

I'm not expecting anything other than or LOL here - the lack of anything at all in response has got me paranoid!

So some people would respond?

I would usually reply to messages from people I know- seems a bit rude not to?

Yes definitely. I usually respond to things like that. As long as it's not my dad's racist brexiteer friend banging on about them immigrants/ gaaaaaaays again.

To be honest I often don’t respond to these sorts of messages. Sometimes I do but others I’m worried I’ll have to get into a text-based conversation and I hate talking to friends, especially friends I’m not close with or colleagues, over text/ instagram/ WhatsApp etc. So I often do just ignore them, or if I do respond I just send an emoji.

If I liked it,I might respond with a thumbs up.If I remembered.

If I ever get an email like that from someone I know with barely any message other than a link I always delete it and never open any links. Too many hackers about and it isn't worth it.

"Hey, thought you'd like this..." is exactly the sort of wording these people use.

Is there a chance they might think it's spam?

I never reply if it's been sent to more than one recipient because to be honest, that sort of 'forward it on' thing gets on my nerves.

If it's personal to me, then I normally reply with the above or perhaps just an emoji.

It really depends on what it is.

OMG yes good point Trouble

I'd say about 90% of hacked accounts churn out links preceded by the words "Hey, thought you'd like this..."

Ok, fair enough - I guess I have just had a run of getting people at busy times then. I'd make a mental note to respond later if it were me though (50/50 success rate admittedly).

Most of the time the messages are via WhatsApp or FB messenger so less overtly spam; I do also try to vary the language from spam wording for the reasons stated above (I.e. Hi - thought this might appeal!).

As for content - it is just funny/interesting things I've come across that I thought might interest them, based on past discussions. That's really it.

My friend and I often send one another links to clothes, books, and news stories we think the other will like (in the case of clothes often I will send her a link saying what do you think, I might get this, and she has already bought it, or vice versa!) but I wouldn’t just send stuff randomly. DP sends me animal pictures if he knows I am having a bad day!

Why don't you just post on FB? A message is a bit of a PITA sometimes if it's just memes.