Monday 13 April 2015

SO MUCH FOR WHATSAPP GROUP CHAT NOTIFICATIONS, I QUIT

“I fear the day technology will replace physical human interaction”- Albert Einstein. As it has happened, the scientist prophecy came to pass as technology has actually replaced physical human interaction today and what better way than other than social media. Whatsapp, (world’s leading messaging service) just like other social media applications has revolutionized the way we interact with one another especially in this era that people don’t have time to visit family and friends owing to tight schedules (or so we say).


Granted, this has prompted people to create cyber interaction space to compensate for their inability to visit in person and have a one on one conversation. Whatsapp Group Chat has proved to be the perfect avenue for chat among friends who want to constantly keep in touch without necessarily physically meeting.

While Whatsapp Group chats has enabled us to keep in touch with our dear ones, it has also been a source of great nuisance for many. A nuisance caused by the numerous whatsapp notifications that you get every morning you go live and the worst part is that the chat has nothing that concerns you or serves your interest.

Not long ago, I used to be in about six or so Whatsapp chat. Don’t get me started on the number of unnecessary notifications that I used to get. I wake up, turn on my phone’s data and voila! 1023 notifications. How lucky? You can imagine because there are those who haven’t received any message for a very long time.


But believe me you, the 1023 messages and other hundreds that I used to receive from time to time had nothing to do with me; with majority being motivational messages which I happen to loathe so much. Even if I had the whole time in the world, I couldn't have read all the messages.


It came a time that I had to make a judgement call; a bold decision but unpopular as it would rub friends and family the wrong way. Nonetheless, it had to be made as I could not stand the notifications running to thousands. I exited all the groups except for a few that were very critical. Yes, I did.

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Here is a piece of advice, if you want your Whatsapp Group chat to stand test of time and keep all its members intact. First, have a clear common goal for the group, for example, if it’s a chat for the investment chama make sure only information relevant to the group is posted there. That way, you will avoid hundreds of notifications as a result of numerous redundant motivational messages or stupid memes.

Secondly, you can throw a few light moments here and there but don’t overdo it. If you feel that you want to motivate or crack jokes, do it moderately, once in a while. Imagine having all 100 of you posting stupid memes. Eventually one will walk out of the group as your bogus meme and motivational message will be the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

Maybe I was wired differently or age is finally catching up with me, regardless of the reason chatting is nowadays becoming a heavy task for me.

P.S #MyWhatsappMyChoice but I still value you. It’s nothing personal just a difference in tastes and preferences