Their expectations have gone up…. No,
zoomed up. They want me to respond - here and now. I am almost leading the life
of a call centre executive - or worse still, a frontline retail store manager on
an annual sale day! And may be you are too!
Today, I have relatives, friends sending
tons of good morning messages, quotes, jokes, videos. I am expected to see,
read, respond to all the videos. Whatsapp has brought out the motivational
leader in each one of us. We are rampantly forwarding achievements,
extraordinary feats by ordinary achievers and what not. I, however, do not
recollect, the last video or motivational video I saw today. Not that I don’t
care about the video - be true to yourself – I am sure you also cannot name the top 3 videos – even the ones
you really liked!
Average of 60 minutes of video content
being sent per day and… anytime through the day.
Can I focus on anything for more than 60
minutes without having interluding Whatsapp messages? I need to keep peering in
to see is it relevant, important, hope I have not missed the relevant one…. And
lo & behold – the blue ticks just keep ticking away – and a call comes in –
“ I have sent you the message – you have not yet responded”! I wish I had a
program that could sort out urgent, important messages that need priority
attention!
I am suffering from a new syndrome called “Whatsapp Anxiety” - when birthday wishes start pouring in, Diwali greetings are floating in - my fear is, I hope I have not left out any one person that I need to wish!
I have people jumping out of groups and
wanting to establish individual connect. They send individual messages - that means
not individualised (not customised) but the same forwards that are
already floating in public domain. I have received atleast 70% of videos /
content atleast three times in a span of a few weeks and sometimes it goes on
for a few years.
Not one of my whatsapp connects have a
clue if I might have already seen these wonderful videos – neither do I
when I forward. I also wonder, most of the link are "YouTube" links - what would
happen if people in so many groups were to simply keep sending video links
through whatsapp to each other.
Well, avid "YouTube" watchers may just
get bombarded by too many links - and it is not that these links are very well
curated - i.e. searched and selectively presented or are consistently on one or
two subjects unless the group is well moderated.
It has surely taken the level of common
knowledge on health, lifestyles, attitudes, economics, politics to a higher
level… more information being shared. I still am not sure, all the groups which
share messages on positive thinking, inclusion, being calm have focussed on
bringing in the positive change at a personal or group level. The pictures are
captivating, the messages are so beautiful – you just end up admiring them and
not assimilating them – because you need to move on to the next message / next
group.
Overdose of anything and unsolicited
forwards sap into time and energy. Because there is a platform – I am not going to
load it with my responses! If they were to charge per posting – I wonder how
many posts I would make per day – is a question I am asking myself!
I think free information sometimes,
makes us believe that now we are more informed, more wiser and hence when a
real dialog takes place or a real life situation comes up, we may not even choose to
hear as we believe we know it....yeah yeah... I know, know...
It has opened up a harmless way of
communication for older people who can break geographical boundaries through
their handphone. Thank you Whatsapp for that! But, my younger friends – can you
help me manage my messages!
Whatsup with your wisdom - information
is not equal to wisdom - for wisdom it is life’s experiences that make your
richer.
With a Backberry phone in early 2000’s,
parents and relatives then would say, don’t carry work home - anytime email.
And fast email response was a sign of an engaged, efficient manager at work.
Now I have to tell my older friends and
relatives at the cost of being the harbringer of unpleasant news - put the phone down and do some-other
"handy" work. U are still having to view this through whatsapp
and your phone!
The anxiety syndrome is after reading
this piece, you may just not / ever write to me – will I be left out in the
urban world led by social media or do I have to simply bear out all the
messages and become a secretary to myself managing tons of messages. No, I
don’t want to be a recluse - Can my silence on social media just be accepted as it is fine - I
know you are there when I need you and I am there when you need me!
While I wait for a better version to emerge which helps me manage my social interactions better, let me manage them well by minimising my energy consumption on watching posts. In case of important messages, I know you will "sms" or call!
Yours affectionately and with warm
regards,
Kanchana Manyam
9th Feb 2018