A FATHER has shared the heartbreaking texts he discovered on his old phone which his daughter was using to send messages to her dead grandfather.

James O'Brien, who is a British journalist and radio presenter, posted the text messages on Twitter, triggering a collective bout of heartache for internet users.

"My youngest has had my old phone for a couple of years," he explained. "Just for games, which I download for her before disconnecting the internet."

But evidently his young daughter was using the phone for more than just gaming.

"Still has my old contacts though & it turns out she's been messaging my dad, who died 5 years ago," he wrote.

Twitter - routinely described as a dumpster fire full of trolls and the sanctimoniously self-righteous - is not known for being a place of compassion or kindness, let alone a place where one might find emotional support.

But after the tweet went viral, a cascade of wellwishers responded. And many began sharing their own stories about their lost family members, turning the Twitter feed into an unlikely forum for remembrance and the outpouring of grief for loved ones who had passed away.

At the time of writing, the post has received more than 150,000 likes and nearly 30,000 retweets, proving Twitter isn't all bad.