Did you delete whatsapp?

giselle

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 12:57 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I really don't think it's a need in my circles. And my kids have lately been talking about how no normal teens use texting. Whatsapp is it. Some of them are young and if they see me delete it, they may change their outlook. It's nice adults can regulate themselves on it (sometimes), but teens are not mature enough for it. And don't get me started on how addictive statuses are. I don't use them, but the teens... It's not good.

How are statuses addicting? I’m honestly just curious.

watergirl

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:02 pm

giselle wrote:

How are statuses addicting? I’m honestly just curious.

I don't get it either. None of my contacts do this. I just checked before posting this comment - ONE person has a status posted. He is a restaurant owner. His status is regarding erev Tisha B'Av hours. No one else of my whatsapp contacts is posting these. I really do not understand this.

amother

Apricot

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:06 pm

I need whatsapp for carpools, school info, family chats so I won't delete it.
But I have a rule for my teens- no internet group chats, so whether it's a group zoom chat, google hangout, texting group, or whatsapp, my answer to them is no. If they have something to say to a friend they're welcome to pick up the phone and speak directly to them.

giselle

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:14 pm

watergirl wrote:

I just checked too. 25 contacts have status updates. Still don’t get how it’s addicting, even if I looked at each one. Done in a couple of minutes.

amother

Tan

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:18 pm

amother [ Apricot ] wrote:

I used to be much stricter about texting, but as they get older and as it becomes more popular, it’s a challenging decision to make. You don’t want them to be the only one of their friends who are excluded from the groups. Here’s some irony - we live in Lakewood and my son is going out of town to a less yeshivish high school, where he will be dorming and won’t be allowed to have a phone. His friends who are staying in town and going to more yeshivish schools are allowed to have phones. I’m grateful for these rules!

areal

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:29 pm

One way statuses have become a problem is that some users overload it with photos & videos of whatever they're interested in, like a mass advertisement of their personal thoughts... crazy imho. Because I had an issue with that with certain contacts that I still needed to keep in touch with, I DISABLED THE STATUS FEATURE, done like so:
*removing the "Contacts" "Permission" for "WhatsApp" in "App" "Settings" (reverse order for step by step).
*you lose name labeling of all previous chats, but I don't find it too hard to scroll or enter phone # (can copy from contacts) in search field by Chats tab.
*to start a chat with a new phone #, type "wa.me/" and the 11-digit number in a browser.
Or if I wasn't clear enough, Google the instructions for "click to chat".
With sincere apologies to businesses & campaigns that also use it to try to catch my attention through this easy, cheap advertising, I need to first treat this woman's weak self-restraint in noticing that dreaded DOT near the Status tab...(maybe ur all made of stronger stuff Wink

Hatzlacha all, in everything.

giselle

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:32 pm

areal wrote:

Hatzlacha all, in everything.

I guess I’m just not all that interested in everyone’s personal lives 🙈 I have a few contacts who I know post funny status updates, so I always click on those.

amother

Rose

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:33 pm

areal wrote:

Hatzlacha all, in everything.

I also disabled statuses, because it annoys me to have that little dot beside the Status Tab telling me there is a new status.
However, I didn't disable them all. Not that many people I know post statuses. When someone does, I go into the status tab, press their status for a long time, and then 'mute status'. That contact's status never shows up again.
It's a simpler method than the above, if most of your contacts aren't posting status updates.

watergirl

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 1:35 pm

areal wrote:

Hatzlacha all, in everything.

This must be a thing that's more common in certain circles. No one I know has these.

amother

Saddlebrown

Wed, Jul 29 2020, 9:17 pm

I did a couple of years back, but I did redownload it on a google number that only my family has. I know if I had it in my regular number I would be expected to be on lots of groups, I would be tempted to constantly look through everyone’s status and check if anyone updated their profile picture🙈 I feel like I have more time now, though I wish I can get rid of my smartphone all together but that’s really not happening.

amother

Apricot

Thu, Jul 30 2020, 12:00 am

amother [ Tan ] wrote:

My older ones are boys and yeshiva does not allow smartphones or internet access. Some boys have and hide it but the pressure is much less when it's a school rule.

Story

Fri, Jul 31 2020, 9:00 am

What about the gifs? I think they were part of a recent whatsapp update. Of course I had no clue they were there until my kids found them through talking to friends.

If you click the little sticky note looking thing in the text field, it opens the gifs. Just click the "love" section if you want to see what's inappropriate about it. I think there is more explicit stuff too if you search for it.

So meanwhile I did get rid of Whatsapp, wondering if TAG has a solution but haven't called yet.

watergirl

Fri, Jul 31 2020, 9:33 am

Story wrote:

Whatsapp has had gifs since 2017.