Some people are turning their backs on WhatsApp and returning to old-fashioned ‘chic’ SMS as the pressure to be continuously contactable is leaving them with ‘anxiety’.
Mark Zuckerberg’s messaging service is too ‘invasive’ with people saying the constant bombardment of notifications means they’re switching back to iMessage and a simpler form of texting.
WhatsApp is presently undergoing a makeover but the sleek new look may not be enough to win back those who have jumped ship.
One of those is dating expert Clarissa Bloom, 34, who on average would receive about 300 messages a day from the 12 groups she was in.
The sight of a WhatsApp message pinging up on her phone would leave her tummy in knots as if she’d just consumed copious amounts of caffeine even after she’d muted nine of the groups.
She said it just felt overwhelming and stressful, even though the messages were always nice posts from friends and family.
She points to her WhatsApp desktop wreaking mayhem with her everyday life with the steady stream of messaging popping up on the screen hindering her work.
She said that it used to give her anxiety as she felt the need to instantly respond, however, it would break up her rhythm.
She said she would also try constantly to read messages on WhatsApp by flicking her phone down and seeing the opening line, rather than clicking on it, so people didn’t see that she’d read it, as she simply couldn’t watch a movie or a show without having to constantly stare at her phone.
All that changed when Clarissa unintentionally switched back to SMS when she got a new phone and didn’t bother to install WhatsApp.
Her life is better for it albeit she has to continually explain to people to text her when they say to her ‘I tried WhatsApping you’.
She said her mind was definitely more relaxed for it and that she didn’t feel the need to answer straight away and it had also pushed her not to check her phone between work hours, which had increased her concentration and productivity significantly.
Clarissa said one of the main bugbears was the nightmare of people seeing she had read a message, meaning she would feel obliged to respond.
She said another factor was the way people message on WhatsApp. When people used to write texts or emails, they would write a long message, and then wouldn’t expect a response for a day.
Anxiety from messages on WhatsApp, I mean what is the world coming to? If you don’t want so many messages coming through, then just don’t put the app on your phone, full stop!
However, it does drive me nuts watching everybody fiddle and twitch with a kind of nervous urge to check their phone if it’s pinged with a message alert. Mobile phones in general have been a curse on human life, and if somebody forgets to take theirs out with them I see tantrums, even from adults, net alone children.
If people insist on belonging to all these groups, then obviously their phone is going to be pinging up messages all the time, and if they really don’t want that kind of attention, switch off the phone, or simply don’t put yourself in these groups. Or failing that, put your phone on silent. I do this because my watch tells me if someone important is calling.
I love WhatsApp. You can share stuff immediately, but then I only really use it for family or close friends, so I’m not inundated with loads of notifications.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 