“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
