Columnists / Kate Willacy
Whatsapp’ning?
I recently read that over 86% of time on phones is spent using apps for ‘me time’. When you consider that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp are all apps, it’s hard to imagine that there’s much ‘me time’ going on but more ‘how can I communicate with the world’ time.
Whatsapp has become something of an addiction for me and one that I recognise has taken over.
Do you ever look at your phone after a few hours and see that the one of the many wittily named groups you’re part of has not only sent 43 messages but those messages vary in topic? By the time you get around to replying you feel a pressure to think of something witty or thoughtful to say, depending on the current theme – but which message do you respond to? Message 18 showing the grotesque amount of snacks your bored friend has devoured at their desk or message 37 detailing an incident involving a stray cat’s excrement on a friend’s kitchen floor (not hypothetical!)?
is needed now More than ever
I thought that joining group chats would free up some of my time because we wouldn’t all need to message separately, but this is not the case – I’m in four groups with one friend and we STILL message separately!
When you see each other, instead of asking “so, what’s new with you?” you exclaim “crazy about what happened the other day!” to which you get a short reply of “yeh!” and then you either cover old ground or you end the conversation because it’s already been laughed about via a demonic laughing emoticon.
I’m part of Gen Y and will inevitably grow up subconsciously expecting things instantly, including communication, but when will it stop?
I can’t control when ‘it’ will stop but I can control when I will stop relying on artificial communication as much as I do. Now, I’m not saying I’m going to delete Whatsapp – crikey, no. But for every time I’m messaging others whilst in the presence of someone I’ve chosen to hang out with I’m missing out on real communication, and I’d take a proper belly laugh over an emoticon any day
Let’s trade in some ‘me time’ on our phones for some ‘us time’ in person.
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