How to Be Annoying

Co-authored by Hunter Rising

Last Updated: October 16, 2024 Approved

VIDEO

Annoying other people can be a fun thing to do if you do it in moderation. Whether you’re talking to someone in person, chatting over text, or interacting online, you can easily annoy them in a variety of ways. Just make sure you don't do anything that would cause you to lose friends or get into trouble.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Irritating Others around You

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1
Sing a catchy pop song so it gets stuck in someone else’s head. There’s nothing more annoying than getting a song stuck in your head that won’t go away. While you’re around a group of people, start humming, whistling, or singing a popular song that most people around you would know. Keep up the tune, even if people ask you to stop right away.^{[1]
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- Popular songs that many people know include “It’s a Small World” and “Baby Shark.”
- Try singing holiday songs when at an inappropriate time of year, such as Christmas songs in June or July.
2
Click a pen repeatedly to make annoying sounds. Clicking a retractable pen is a small and common noise, but other people will get bothered if you do it repeatedly. Start by slowly clicking it as if you were using your pen normally. Then, slowly increase the speed until it constantly makes a clicking noise.^{[2]
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- You may also tap your table or desk with the end of a pen or pencil if it doesn’t click on its own.
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3
Say random numbers while someone is trying to count something. If someone around you is trying to count objects or trying to remember certain numbers, start loudly saying other numbers out of order to confuse them. Try to make them lose their place so they need to start over.
- For example, if they’re counting, “...14, 15, 16…” you may shout out, “19! 37! 12! 23!”
- Wait until they reach higher numbers before interrupting them since they’ll be more likely to forget their place.
4
Set random alarms around your home to annoy your family. Set the alarms and timers throughout your home for times when you know other people will be home. Make each time different so all the alarms go off separately.
- Make alarms 1-2 minutes apart so as soon as someone turns off one of the alarms, another one starts going off.
- Set multiple alarms on your phone while you’re around people so they go off a lot. Act like nothing’s wrong when you turn off each of your alarms.
5
Chew food with your mouth open to gross out other people. If you’re out to eat or enjoying a meal, open your mouth while you’re chewing. People around you will get annoyed and grossed out by the noise you’re making as well as being able to see your food while you eat it.^{[3]
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- Try holding a conversation while you’re chewing your food.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Holding Annoying Conversations

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1
Talk loudly to be disruptive to other people. Raise your voice until you’re nearly shouting while you’re having a regular conversation with someone. If they ask you to quiet down, pretend that you didn’t hear them and keep talking loudly.^{[4]
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- Ask “What?” after everything they say to act like you can’t hear them at all.
- Don’t be disruptive in places such as school or church.
2
Interrupt the other person while they’re talking. When the person you’re talking to is in the middle of their sentence, cut them off by saying something unrelated. Continue talking as if they hadn’t said anything. When they start talking again, pick a time to interrupt them again.^{[5]
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- Ask the person a question and interrupt them while they’re in the middle of answering.
- Talk about yourself when you interrupt the other person if you want to seem like you don’t care.
While the other person is talking to you, pull out your phone and respond to texts or scroll through social media. When they ask you a question, only respond by saying, “Uh huh,” or something similar to make it seem like your phone is more important than them.^{[6]
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Tip: If the other person pulls out their phone while you’re talking to them, tell them that it’s impolite. Then when they start talking to you, take out your phone.

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Annoying People Over Text

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1
Send messages early in the morning or late at night to wake people up. If you know your friends go to sleep early or sleep in on the weekends, send out your texts at 2 AM or 6 AM to wake them up. Tell them that you have an important or urgent question, but then tell a joke or ask a pointless question.
- For example, you may first send, “HELP, I need you to answer a question right now! It’s an emergency!” Once they respond, ask something like, “If a tree falls in a woods an no one is there, does it make a sound?” or “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
- Send 4-5 messages in a row to make their phone go off so they’re bound to wake up.
2
Text multiple messages in a row to spam the other person. Instead of putting your full text in 1 message, send separate messages that are only a few words long. That way, the person’s phone keeps going off. When they ask you to stop, keep sending messages asking them, “Why?” until they respond.
- Try talking about yourself in a long thread of messages to make it seem like you only care about what you’re saying.
3
Respond with 1-word replies to stall the conversation. If someone sends you a long message, type “OK,” “K,” or “Cool” as your response, even if it doesn’t make sense. Responding with 1 word makes it seem like you’re annoyed or bothered by them messaging you and can be really annoying.
- If someone asks you a question, say “What?” or “Why?” as a response like you’re confused. Keep asking even if they try to explain what they meant.
4
Don’t respond to a message for a few hours to keep the other person waiting. Instead of answering a text right away, leave it alone for 1-2 hours before replying. Make up ridiculous excuses about why you couldn’t answer them right away. This way, people trying to hold conversations with you will get annoyed because you aren’t talking to them.
- For example, you may eventually reply with something ridiculous like, “Sorry, I was scuba diving in my pool,” or, “I would’ve gotten back to you sooner, but my dog ate my phone.”
- If there is an actual emergency or urgent message, respond to it immediately.
Tip: Many texting services let people know if you’ve seen the message they sent. Make sure to open the message as soon as you get it so the person knows you saw it.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Being Annoying Online

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1
Post multiple social media updates every day to spam people’s newsfeeds. Many people only post on social media once or twice a day, but update your page with 5-10 annoying posts. Other people will see your posts in their feed and get bothered by it.^{[7]
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- For example, you may post pointless updates such as, “Just ate breakfast!” or “I’m the best, aren’t I?!”
- Post selfies every day to fill your friend’s newsfeeds with pictures of you.
2
Write in all caps to make it seem like you’re shouting. When someone writes a sentence in all capital letters, it makes the sentence feel loud and important. Write your social media updates or emails with caps lock on to make yourself sound more annoying. If someone asks you why you’re typing like that, respond with something like, “MY BUTTONS ARE BROKEN.” ^{[8]
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- Don’t use all caps if you need to send a professional email.
3
Share links to annoying videos to bother your friends. Post links to random clickbait articles or random internet videos for your friends to watch. Make sure to link to multiple things throughout the day so their newsfeeds are filled with your posts.^{[9]
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- One popular annoying video you can share is the “RickRoll” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ.
- Another popular link you can share is “Baby Shark” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqZsoesa55w.
4
Tag multiple people and hashtags in one post to seem desperate for attention. Even if a picture or status isn’t about the people you tag, include them anyway so they look at your post. If you want to be more annoying, put a hashtag in front of every word in your post so it makes it more difficult to read.^{[10]
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- For example, you may post a status that says, “#Just #had #breakfast #isn’t #that #cool?” or “I love #basketball #goteam #sports #shoothoops #NBA.”
- If your friends untag themselves from the post, tag them in it again.
Warning: If you do this too much, your friends may unfollow or unfriend you.

Community Q&A

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Are there any tips/warnings about this article?

Community Answer

Don't do anything so annoying that you could get in real trouble, and be careful following these instructions in school because you could get detention.

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How are am I supposed to be annoying without getting into trouble?

Community Answer

That's the thing you want to get in trouble with that person, otherwise you're not annoying them sufficiently. If you are scared to do so, then don't do it at all.

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Is any of this illegal?

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No. Just annoying and potentially embarrassing.

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Tips

Let your friends know that you were joking around after you’ve been annoying so they don’t stay mad at you.

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Warnings

Don’t be annoying in places where you could get in trouble or harm someone else, such as in school or in a car.

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If you’re constantly annoying other people, they may not want to spend as much time with you.

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