The WhatsApp voice messages of wrath

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

'Oh for feck sake, not another WhatsApp voice message.'

Through gritted teeth, that's generally how I respond upon receiving a WhatsApp voice message.

One does try, in vain, to let others know one's feelings.

The joy of text

The intensity of this indignation is directly proportional to the length of these "verbal vectors". I'm terming them thus as there's a good chance they are causing me mental harm owing to the ill feeling they generate in me.

If they are no more than thirty seconds in length and don't turn into a verbal volley, then I can deal with them without getting too worked up. (I must also confess here, lest I be called a hypocrite, I have been known to send the odd one in certain circumstances. This, though, is very much the exception. For the most part, I text.)

The thing is, for a not-insignificant number of WhatsApp users the voice message is the default option. In terms of my contacts, it seems that Colombians in particular are big fans of them.

'I find the idea of voice messages quite selfish. More effort is generally required from the recipient rather than the sender.'

Of course, this could simply be a reflection of those I engage with the most on WhatsApp; my bad luck. I can't say with any certainty that most Colombians prefer voice messages to texts. Nor can I say that they are used more frequently here compared to other countries.

Whatever the case, despite my WhatsApp profile About blurb beseeching contacts not to send voice messages — I guess nobody reads what's written in that section — they're something I'm regularly "forced" to tackle.

So why do they rankle with me so much?

For starters, I find the idea of them quite selfish. More effort is generally required from the recipient rather than the sender. Basically, the latter expects the former to listen to a monologue that on occasions can be akin to a mini-podcast in terms of length.

(Just to be clear — lest the hypocrisy charge be levelled at me again — when I send a blog story or podcast or whatever, I'm not demanding that the recipient engages with the content. That's, obviously enough, up to the individual. It's quite different with voice messages.)

At least with a written message it can usually be glanced over to see if it requires "urgent" attention without even entering the application. This can't be done with a voice message. One either has to stop everything one is doing to listen to what was sent or ignore the audio for a time. I usually do the latter.

Vanquishing the voice message

You see, tied in with this is the fact that I use my phone for other audio purposes i.e. listening to podcasts/radio and watching YouTube. I also use it to read books. Voice messages are a greater distraction for all these activities than written messages. Hence the wrath.

In mild mitigation, as a society, we're still trying to settle on a widely accepted etiquette for social media interaction and the like. What one person views as a great innovation is an utter annoyance to another — see, as a further example on a related theme, my previous piece railing against an ever-encroaching Big Tech.

In terms of social media specifically, however, most mental health experts would agree that the best strategy is to use them very sparingly, if at all (see Facebook, Instagram: Killing us softly).

Nonetheless, WhatsApp has now become the chief means of communication for many people. In my line of work, I'd be putting myself at a significant financial disadvantage by not having the app.

As I've said before, such things are merely tools that we must control. We shouldn't let them control us. Yet, it's beyond my control if somebody sends me a WhatsApp voice message.

So surely the brains behind WhatsApp could introduce a version without the voice-message facility or at least have an option inhibiting the ability to receive them, with this clearly displayed for any would-be voice-message sender?

Come on Mr Zuckerberg, you've done far worse to the world. Just when you do roll this out, I want my cut.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

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Breaking up (with WhatsApp groups) ain't hard to do

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

'The hardest part was leaving the WhatsApp group.' This is a common refrain you'll hear from recently retired sports stars, those who are part of teams that is.

The rather weird world of WhatsApp groups.

Groupthink

I find this rather perplexing. Do they really find the act of no longer virtually engaging with a group of people more difficult than actually not being part of the clique physically?

Maybe it's just me, but I tend to prefer to meet (most) people face to face rather than communicate via social media or other such means (there are, of course, those who I have no desire to meet by any means — the feeling is no doubt mutual). 

For sure, the pandemic has made in-person meetings more difficult yet, on the same token, it has made me appreciate real-life interaction even more so.

I guess the hard part of leaving a WhatsApp group, particularly one that is a forum for something that has been a central part of one's everyday life, is the fact that, normally, the person departing presses the leave button him/herself. 'This is it, we're parting ways and there's no going back.' Extinguishing oneself virtually, so to put it.

In defence of those sports stars who have found 'WhatsApp group removal' an emotional moment, many of them who I have read about were retiring earlier than planned for one reason or another.

For if you've reached a moment where you feel you've nothing more to give, then moving on shouldn't be such a burden. 

In fact, I would have thought leaving behind the social media chitchat would be somewhat empowering. One chapter ends, on to the next. What's more, one can still meet former teammates individually should one wish to do so.

Now, I must state that I can't speak for being part of WhatsApp groups linked to sports teams. WhatsApp wasn't a thing the last time I was fully involved with a team.

Yet, I have been and am part of various social media groups across a range of interests. I can say with confidence that my leaving of any of them would not result in sleepless nights.

'The ability to instantly interact with a bunch of people who I've either only fleetingly met or haven't met at all is not something I see as desirable.'

Indeed, I've unexpectedly left a number of groups in recent times, one of which I actually founded. It wasn't a big deal my side, although perhaps some other members raised eyebrows owing to the manner I abruptly left, I don't know.

No friend of mine

To be honest, I find many social media groups rather tedious affairs. Of the ones in which I remain, it's largely for self-publicity reasons when the need arises, as well as for getting rapid responses to the odd query or for receiving potentially useful information.

The ability to instantly interact with a bunch of people who I've either only fleetingly met or haven't met at all is not something I see as desirable. The disadvantages outweigh the advantages as far as I'm concerned.

You see, I tend not to befriend people too quickly. It's a process that appears to take even longer the older I get, and it's certainly unlikely to happen over social media. It could be said I'm leaning towards the Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle's school of thought, 'A stranger is a cunt you haven't met.' Indeed.

The only real advantage I see with WhatsApp groups is that members generally don't send voice messages. I'm not a fan of rambling monologues, although I have been guilty of same in the past in one-on-one WhatsApp engagements. 'Do unto others' and all that.

In mitigation, in certain circumstances, a voice message is more desirable than a written one. They should be used sparingly all the same. (Here's a thought, WhatsApp. How about setting a daily limit on voice-message minutes per user? Like two minutes free and after that one has to pay a premium.)

On a broader scale, in terms of the various instant-messenger services available, WhatsApp certainly appears to have captivated the Western world. Where's Viber these days?

Like most of these things, I have a kind of schizophrenic relationship with it. That is, 'can't live with it, can't live without it'.

Or at least I've convinced myself of the latter. I can certainly live without WhatsApp groups. By extension, I'm sure I could live without WhatsApp. 

However, I feel I'm not quite ready to fully break up with it just yet.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

 

Swimming against the Big Tech tide

@wwaycorrigan
[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]
I recently wrote about how Big Nanny State has facilitated a tendency amongst some in society to forego growing up and taking responsibility. 'Leave everything up to me, little ones. Simply submit, follow the rules, however arbitrary many may seem, and off with you to enjoy your highly regulated lives.'

The QR-code revolution: Wrong Way is not a fan.

Virtual reality

Cosily tucked up with Big Nanny State in her warm global bed is Big Tech, monitoring everything from our sleeping patterns and what we eat for breakfast to our favourite pastimes and guilty pleasures. While this might appear a rather clandestine undertaking, the reality is, it isn't.

The virtual world that practically all in higher-income countries plus the middle classes elsewhere have signed up to with countless usernames and passwords means we have voluntarily — or at least it was voluntarily initially — invited Big Tech and its associates into our lives. And while some folk seem fairly blasé about this, there does appear to be pushback fomenting in other quarters.

The question is, shy of a system overthrow or a complete retreat from society, how does one go about living in the 21st Century whilst endorsing minimalist technological use?

Unless you're already a "made" man, woman or whatever you wish to call yourself these days, not having the likes of WhatsApp and/or an email account together with being connected to the internet 24/7, leaves you at a distinct disadvantage. And even if you are comfortably settled on Easy Street, this doesn't mean you can effortlessly free yourself from Big Tech's dominance.

Many services, from the world of finance to dining and everything else in between, now expect the user to be equipped with a smartphone — a device that tends to sap any modicum of intelligence from said user.

'In the pandemic pandemonium where each fellow human being is seen as a Grim Reaper, QR-code menus take away one potential area of contagion.'

All of this is supposedly being done in the name of convenience. Fair enough, if you can do everything from the comfort of your own home or wherever, there's something to be said for that. However, when it's done to the detriment of being able to actually sit down and talk to somebody face to face should the need arise, while I'm all against it.

A mine of information

Just one manifestation of this — something that, thankfully, rarely affects me in my modest existence in Colombia — is the switch to QR-code menus and suchlike in restaurants. Some people think this is a wonderful development.

For one, in the pandemic pandemonium where each fellow human being is seen as a Grim Reaper, it takes away one potential area of contagion: the handling of reused menus. It also cuts down on paper by reducing the need for said menus, therefore, so it goes, it's good for the environment.

Both of those "plus points" are true, but one's smartphone doesn't exactly run on fresh air, does it? Plus, outside of its component parts — including those lithium batteries, mined in ethically questionable ways, to say the least — it has to be recharged regularly.

Speaking of mining, in places where you actually order electronically, how much personal information is hammered out of us in the process? Another aspect to Big Tech's perpetual profiling.

In the realm of finance, so far my bank in Colombia, Banco Caja Social, hasn't forced me to go fully mobile. Indeed, in some regards, this particular institution is too archaic and overly bureaucratic. Nonetheless, when it comes to money, you can't be too careful all the same.

In contrast, the only bank I currently do business with in Ireland, Bank of Ireland UK in Belfast, more or less forced me recently to download its app in order to continue having access to my account. Come on guys, there are only so many apps a bog-standard smartphone can hold!

The net result of this 'move to mobile' is that it leaves us at the mercy of a faceless Big Tech. Technology is the master. To borrow, in a way, from Winston Churchill, 'Never has so much power been in the hands of so few, controlling so many.'

Call me, if you will, a contrarian conservative fearful of what amounts to nothing more than innocent and innovative change.

However, in a world where we are ceding more and more of whatever independence we had to faceless forces, I will do what I can to resist, at least for a little while longer. It will, most likely, be a futile exercise.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Taking the time to think

Many of us were brought up with, and still adhere to, the old adage, ‘The devil makes work for idle hands’. 

In other words, not having anything to do invariably leads to negative occurrences. Thus, to keep out of harm’s way it’s all about, to borrow from Rihanna, ‘work, work, work, work, work’; always having something to do, always being busy. Indeed.

Playing the bored game

However, there is a growing appreciation — backed up by research — for a little bit of, if not quite utter idleness at least a bit of boredom in our lives. The thinking is, in today’s always-connected world, we don’t leave enough time aside to actually think. It’s all go, go, go.

Disconnecting is good for us ... (Image from ClipArtPanda.)

What’s more, even in our downtime, a lot of us are staring at a screen, plugged into music, messing around on our phones or suchlike. There are distractions all over the place preventing us from truly switching off and getting in touch with our minds on our own terms.

Where once the daily commute to and from work could be used as a time to ponder, now it’s rare to find somebody not fiddling with their smartphone. (Heck, even the old sanctuary of the toilet is under attack, be it with people using their devices on the throne or rushing the experience so as to get back to work.)

For sure, a lot of people don’t view using the latest app or whatever in their leisure time as a bad thing, but research suggests that it can adversely affect creativity. 

A case of when we’re using such things, even if they’re educational, somebody else has already done a large part of the thinking for us, so to put it. (Where alcohol, to a point, stimulates the creative juices — so some like to think — being too busy, too "switched on" impedes them. Sure didn’t some of the best Irish writers of times past like a drink every now and again?)

From a personal viewpoint, not having a smartphone, nay any phone, these last few days — a forced absence due to a theft albeit — has been quite refreshing (we’ve found the silver lining in this cloud).

Nonetheless, and unfortunately in certain aspects, not being in the smartphone loop these days can mean missed work opportunities, especially for independent workers.

What’s more, for those of us working in areas where the internet is a fundamental part, there are many pros to having a smartphone. In effect, it’s a convenient, pocket-sized office. So what previously was considered lost time, like waiting for a meeting to start, can now be used more productively.

In theory, this should free up other time to be used as we see fit, at our leisure, letting our minds wander. In practice, however, it often leads to us trying to squeeze more smartphone time into our days. 

Rather than letting the battery die, many of us frantically search for a power point. ‘Sure I couldn’t be without WhatsApp for 30 minutes now, could I?’

Another angle to all of this is multitasking. Modern technology has allowed us to have lots of things on the go at once. What can happen here is that we fail to devote enough time to any one of them to complete them properly. A variant of the old ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ line.

As we’ve said before on similar themes, it’s all about balance. Finding time in a busy, always-on-the-go life to pause, take stock, let the mind drift, this is important. This little bit of helpful ‘boredom’.

On the other hand, however, there are those who perhaps think too much, question what they are doing, where they are going to the point where it becomes a problem in itself. This can be a momentary thing, like after the death of a loved one or some other life-changing incident, a natural reaction really.

Yet, if it’s more long-lasting, it’s more than likely a sign of feeling unfulfilled, believing our lives lack purpose. 

In this scenario, the cure may be found in fewer moments of boredom or excessive thinking and more action.

Whatever the case, bored or busy, keeping that dastardly devil at bay, that’s the key. Most of the time anyway.
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