Yesterday(10th November 2017) around 2:30pm I went back on watsapp. For those who don't know already- let me give you a lil backgroundnd story. Tuesday 18th October 2016 is a remarkable day in my calendar because thats the day Watsapp and i finally called it quits. Our relationship had been rocky for few months with periods of silent treatment and occasional arguments. When someone tells me "i'll watsapp it to(pictures, phone number/secret) you" i almost cringe because anyone who says such is unaware of the great split, its at that moment that i make the announcement "Watsapp and I are no longer together" this is often met with "whattt? who on earth isn't on watsapp?" or "you rich people neh?" yet nobody ever bothered to ask what really happened.
One of the main things I appreciate about Watsapp is that its affordable, most of my friends use it so communication is made easy. On the other hand I was often anxious because of the way the app is set up i.e blue ticks and last seens, those two features induced much anxiety, including the blocking button which didn't help because i'm a serial blocker- One wrong text or blue ticks then someone is sent packing. Being away for 1 year 23 days taught me a lot of things; bear in mind that i'm not trying to demonise Watsapp or any other social network but these are some of the reflections I've had in the past year:
1.
I can live without it
In the era of Instant messaging and Chat, watsapp exceeded the
expectations of its consumers far better than its competators i.e
Mxit, 2GO,weCHAT,BBM,etc. It offered good, less fussy communication
at a minimal cost. I was happy with it at first for this reason but
as time went by i realised my life was almost getting tied to this messaging app
2.
I'm less anxious
Maybe this is just me but i remember feeling anxious and often
irritated at some of my contacts when my message is delivered and read but no response returned. I am glad i hadn't been blue ticked in over a year.
I'm less anxious because even though i use other social networks to chat, Watsapp was the only one that had a sense of 'urgency', its an Instant messaging app and everyone is available to chat, all day, everyday. It doesn't even offer the option to logout of the app which means unless you switch of your mobile data the app is running all day, everyday.
I'm less anxious because even though i use other social networks to chat, Watsapp was the only one that had a sense of 'urgency', its an Instant messaging app and everyone is available to chat, all day, everyday. It doesn't even offer the option to logout of the app which means unless you switch of your mobile data the app is running all day, everyday.
3.
I'm capable of beating addiction
On the 18th October this year i low-key celebrated my 1 year away, that day was like an epiphany. I realised if i could stay way from chatting for a year then everything else is rock and roll. You might think i'm just being extreme but i have what they call 'an addictive personality', i used to check watsapp like its the morning paper. First thing first when i woke up was to login and see who sent something interesting while i was sleeping.
4.
There are other ways to communicate
I wasn't planning on stepping back to the 90s completely but i i enjoyed phone calls and e-mailing. I received a lot of backlash from close friends because those are outdated ways of keeping in contact but i think we should be free to communicate with whatever medium works for us, i mean people have a thousand ways to get us anyways. if they don't email, they call, if you don't answer they Facebook you if not they slide into your Instagram DMs all that matters is someone
5.
A year isn't that long
But things change quickly, now Watsapp has Statuses,stories,video calling and recently Options to delete messages for you and the receiver , things progress quickly. The world is in a big damn hurry! I was thinking that I've been away for such a long time but i couldn't help note that one of my friends Tshili hasn't been on Watsapp since 2011. People can live without these things hey.
7.
I have more time to do other things
This one applies to all social media, I deleted Watsapp then in January 2017 I sent Twitter and Instagram packing too. For the time that I was gone/ cutting back on Watsapp, Instagram, Twitter and occasionally Facebook- My quiet times with the Lord have been enhanced- I spent more time reading, praying and less time stalking people, fishing for complements, and seeing things that don't build up my relationship with God and other people. I spent less time arguing over trivial things(yes I was that person who does an all-nighter on Watsapp because of an argument). John Piper once said one of the biggest uses of Facebook and Twitter on the last day will be to show that Prayerlessness was not because of lack of time. This really convicted me.
Are we spending more time that we ought to online?
Could social media be part of the reasons why some of us are often depressed?
