It guilt trips the person into replying and feeling bad

I can see that, but this seemed confusing to me because I was mentioning my flowers tho?
Like I said basically I know you don't care but my Cosmo is growing nicely, and that was followed by a lot of other random things.

I dont really see it as manipulative... I mean in a sense you can but with someone you know, I wouldnt think of it that way. Rather just you expressing/reflecting how that person has been coming off?

I didn't even realize! That that might have been part of it!
He'd ignore me sometimes and reply other times so, that could have been a factor.
But right, he and I were friends for several years so his accusation and the focus on my wording has left me confused.
Thanks for your input!

I sometimes use it for the same purpose that you did here about general goings-on in life. I think you were okay in saying that since you meant no ill-will by it to the other individual. More than likely I'd say they were over-reacting, or there was some bad stuff going on and that was the vent for their frustrations.

Thanks. I was wondering if that was part of it; if he was stressed, but his reaction was so strong that it left me honestly questioning whether I should stop saying it.

I know for a lot of people it comes across the wrong way but this felt so hostile when the topic had nothing to do with us/our relationship, if that makes sense.

Yeah I getcha. It might be good not to use the phrase with him anymore

I've only ever heard this phrase used in a passive-aggressive way, as part of an attempt at a guilt trip - a way of saying someone should care, and they are a bad person for not doing so.

HAVING SAID THAT - depending on tone and context, I could see this phrase being innocently used, especially between people who are close, where it's understood that one side honestly isn't interested in a subject, but the other is going to talk about it due to excitement.

part of the problem of writing it is that you lose tone, making it hard to determine how you meant what you typed - and anyone who's dealt with this phrase in its manipulative form is going to react badly to it on instinct, and to a greater or lesser degree based on how the phrase was abused (And used to abuse them).

A somewhat more neutral form might be "I know you aren't interested in this, but" - "interest" is less strong, and more of a mental appeal, compared to "care," which is more of an emotional appeal

That makes a lot of sense. I actually told him that he couldn't hear my tone through a text when I was trying to explain that I wasn't meaning to upset him, but you're right the wording is pretty strong and I didn't even think that he might have had a bad experience with someone using the phrase to guilt him.

As someone with depression I used to talk in that sort of way a lot, and it was a really hard habit to break.

Unfortunately, even though it isn't intentional, it does come off poorly most of the time.
Even if the person doesn't consider it manipulative, it's a bad tone to start a conversation with, as it's leading into the conversation with a negative.

Yeah, it is a difficult habit I'm going to have to work on.
Though I didn't start off the convo that way, it was sandwiched in the middle of me rambling about things, mostly my garden, but I'm definitely going to try and alter my usage of it a bit.
My confusion stemmed from the fact that in the context of our conversation it was innocently said about a topic I felt he wasn't that interested in.
So I'm going to have to shift how I try to get things through, lol.