Is someone worth waiting for if they take forever to text back

Response time alone doesn't tell you anything. Someone could text back after 12 hours because they work a hard job or because they're not thinking about you. You need to look at the whole picture. Are their replies substantial when they do come through, or are they one-liners? Do they ask questions back or just answer yours? Are they consistent with the slowness or do they respond quickly to some messages and slowly to others?

If someone takes a while but gives you real, thoughtful replies and keeps the conversation going, they might just have a chaotic schedule. If they take forever and then send back "lol ok", that's different. Also pay attention to when they're slow. If they're slow on weekday mornings but quick on weekends, their life is the issue. If they're slow all the time but you see them posting stories constantly, you're not a priority.

Your reply needs to do two things at once. First, it has to acknowledge the conversation and move it forward so they don't have to. This means asking something specific they can answer or suggesting a concrete next step like meeting up. Second, it needs to feel low-pressure. You're not following up on their silence or trying to prove anything. You're just opening a door and walking through it yourself.

Avoid anything that references the delay, like 'finally' or 'just got this'. Don't make it sound like you've been waiting. Send something natural that would work even if they'd replied in two hours. Keep it short enough that a slow responder doesn't feel burdened by a wall of text. And make sure there's actually something for them to respond to, not just a statement they can like and ignore.

Send your message and give it real time. One to three days depending on context. If you get nothing after that, don't send a follow-up. If you get a reply after a week, you can engage with it once more, but now you're on notice. Set a limit for yourself before you message them. Maybe it's two slow cycles of no response. Maybe it's one really great message that goes unanswered. Whatever the number, when you hit it, you treat them as someone who's not available right now.

The hard part is actually stopping instead of negotiating with yourself. It's not that they're a bad person. It's that waiting around for someone to make time for you teaches them that you'll wait. Send good messages, respond fairly quickly yourself, and after two or three missed chances, go talk to someone who's already interested.