WhatsApp groups: a necessary nuisance
Incessant messages from a WhatsApp Group Chat can be irritating, especially when the conversation is of no relevance to the receiver but it looks like the WhatsApp groups have become the fastest and easiest way to receive news and other forms of information.
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Unlike Twitter, Facebook,Instagram and other social media platforms where users have to log in to check updates, notifications from a WhatsApp group pop up immediately they are sent; all the user needs is an active data connection.
General information and jokes about fairly recent topical issues like the Anas video on the judges and the ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana spread with incalculable speed mainly through Whatsapp group chats, thereby igniting a lot of conversations among users.
The popularity of WhatsApp Group Chats has grown beyond measure and has closed all geographical boundaries which hitherto made it impossible for people to communicate and share information.
Now with smartphones, families, friends, schoolmates and work colleagues can easily chat without necessarily meeting in person due to the effectiveness of WhatsApp Group Chat.
Despite this giant stride, some people have raised eyebrows about the level of discomfort the platform sometimes subjects them to.
For instance, Albert Yaw Ofori, in a chat with The Mirror, admitted that WhatsApp Group Chat is fast becoming a nuisance to him.
“I belong to an Old School Group and we are spread around the world. Due to the different time zones, people sometimes post messages at odd hours,” he said.
He said because of these disturbances, he decided to put all his group chats on mute but he missed important messages since he didn’t go back to read the loads of messages posted.
Justina Kufour-Mensah, a student at the University of Cape Coast, told The Mirror that she is in four group chats.
Though she gets updated on things happening around her and releases tension through some of the humorous messages posted, chatting with friends too often is time-consuming and sometimes too, the disturbances on the platforms are just too much.
Afia Dwemena Akenten, a student leader at the University of Cape Coast, also said she belonged to 17 groups and believed WhatsApp Group Chat was a good thing.
“Most of the groups I belong to are made up of intellectuals from various institutions in Ghana and we usually discuss national issues and their implications as well as the way forward for this nation,” she said.
Ms Akenten, however, contended that she normally put her group chats on mute when she was too busy to chat.
Bezzle Spencer Boateng, a journalist, also said he belonged to six active group chats. While admitting that it was sometimes a nuisance, especially when people engaged in unnecessary hot exchanges, he held that it was also a form of companionship when he was bored.
He said a lot of useful information were exchanged on platforms where the members were on top of particular topics.
Enoch Acheampong believes WhatsApp Group Chat is the best platform because he gets a lot of information, both local and foreign.
He, however, pointed out that “group members usually create a lot of discomfort to me because of the flood of messages which often cause my cell battery to run down quickly.”
The WhatsApp Group Chat platforms allow users to chat with up to 100 people at once. In addition to the maximum number of people you can add to a group, users can create an unlimited number of groups.
Each group can have one or more administrators and only administrators can add or remove participants.
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