WhatsApp has become an app with increasing influence around the world. Not only did it outperd with other messaging services, which were very well positioned, but it ushered in a new era in technology-mediated social relationships. In principle, this is an important contribution to facilitating communication, but it has also shown that it can be an instrument with certain risks.
According to a study by the Global Web Index, which investigated the use of WhatsApp in 34 countries, 40% of netizens use this app, and the usage rate has been found to be increasing among people between the age of 16 and 64. The countries where it is most used are: South Africa, Malaysia, Mexico, India, Singapore, Spain, Argentina, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and Brazil.
“Social media without glasses is like a mecedora: a lot of movement, but it doesn’t lead anywhere.
-Anonymous-
One of the determining factors of WhatsApp’s success is its simplicity and functionality, it is very easy to create and manage groups, although there are other similar applications, WhatsApp has become the most used by most people.
WhatsApp can be problematic, but as in so many other technological areas, the difficulty lies not in the application itself, but in people’s use of it, there is a disturbing tendency among people to mediate communication more and more.
That is, replace direct contact with each other with the contact through any device. It started with the telegraph, then the phone and finally the Internet, which broke every limit imaginable.
If you live in Lima and need to communicate with someone in Beirut, this type of means is a gift from heaven, without WhatsApp it would be impossible to communicate in real time and at low cost, as is the case today.
The problem occurs when you use this app to communicate with people close to you, with which you could chat in person, this situation gets worse when we can’t leave the eyes of the mobile screen and not pay attention to what’s happening. around us.
With WhatsApp and its groups, the user experiences a new need: to be connected all the time and to check what people are saying. The funny thing is that these conversations are, for the most part, about unimportant facts, but despite this, the person believes that they should be part of them so as not to lose control.
The truth is that overuse of these technologies can lead to an increase in educational, work and relationship problems, some people use WhatsApp to alleviate or mask emotional problems such as boredom, loneliness, anger, anxiety or shyness.
Technology was not created to complicate our lives, but to help us, they are irreversible changes that man must put at his service, rather than turning them into a new type of slavery, so we must give them rational use and not make it a fetish or taboo.
You should think and see if you have any problems with using WhatsApp. Review the items below that suggest something is out of control.
If you have noticed that you are overreacting to your application or if you are causing problems, these are the steps we recommend so that you do not fall into a dictatorship that could cause further damage.