WhatsApp groups are created as a medium for over 200 individuals (maximum of 256) to share ideas on a particular purpose, topic or objective. In as much as they are programmed for betterment, there are tendencies for them to be in “overdo” mode. And that’s the main issue: Most WhatsApp groups are receiving the overdo dosage. And how’s that so? Virtually most of WhatsApp users have had to deal with excessive group messages notifications since time immemorial.
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A couple of factors can be held responsible for this:
Most group members want to contribute, hence, chances of irrelevancies. Just imagine when over 50% of 256 is adding to a particular topic simultaneously (It’s going to be epic!) Too much private conversations in a group chat. Swaying from the group’s ideal purpose Excessive jokes and banters
Not everyone knows the etiquette guide to use a WhatsApp group, but that doesn’t stop you from dealing with the overwhelmingness of the platform.
Few Tips to Quell WhatsApp Groups Overwhelm
Just like they’ve worked for me, I’ll share you some tips to keep your mind healthy from WhatsApp groups’ possession.
Don’t feel the need to read messages all the time
Here’s where a lot of people get it wrong; they feel they have to check group messages every time. Most people don’t like the idea of seeing unread chats in the IM service, so they go through every single text irrespective of the timeframe. The simplest way to deal with this is limiting the hours you spend checking the messages. For someone like me, I check group messages during my leisure time. In other words, I don’t let them interfere with work. Even if it’s a work-related group, as long as you can go through the messages for a short time within 24 hours, you won’t lose your job.
SEE ALSO: WhatsApp Archived Chats. Everything you need to know.
Develop the art of “ignoring” notifications
WhatsApp Messenger grants users the ability to mute conversations for 8hours, one day or 1 week. Groups messages, both the redundant and essential can be ignored based on your discretion. So, once you’re free, you can fish out the excessive, and feast on the essentials. In essence, this plays a vital role in helping you with the first tip.
Keep private, private
One of the reasons that cause WhatsApp overwhelmingness which I mentioned above is too many private discussions in a group chat. You know it can be frustrating when you see 180 messages on your work’s group chat, and 90% focuses on Mr Ezekiel and Mr Matthew’s debate on if Messi or Ronaldo is the greatest. If I were in the group chat, I wouldn’t be pissed, but I can’t say that about Mrs Joe who detests football. Irrespective of who’s better, they can thrash that out in their DMs and not in the group chat.
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So, even if everyone isn’t doing it, on your part, you can try as much as possible to limit private conversations to private chats. Added to that, it also helps protect people’s privacy. Tackling some private issues in group chats might expose some critical personal details to the eye of the public.
Minimise the extracurricular
This goes in tandem with the above tip. Topics that don’t justify the goal of the group should be minimised. Jokes, banters and general life issues can come up seldom, but it shouldn’t be excessive. Having gone through all these, I hope you can now surmount this challenge called overwhelmingness of WhatsApp Groups.
