Managing your text chain

Important family conversations used to happen around the dinner table. Now they're often relegated to our phones. Here are rules for dealing with your family text thread.

- ANGELA HAUPT

CHOOSE YOUR TOPICS WISELY

Limit text conversation to topics you would feel comfortable addressing face-to-face, says psychologist Reena B. Patel. Avoid politics if that's a heated topic, and stay away from jokes that can be misinterpreted.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE