Until recently, I was a member of two big and active WhatsApp groups. One was set up on the day of the 14th General Election (GE14) while the other was set up a few days after Pakatan Harapan (PH) formed the new government of Malaysia. Both WhatsApp groups focused on the latest happenings in Malaysia.
Initially, I was proud to be included in the WhatsApp groups, especially the one formed on the day of the GE14. Thanks to it, I had fun following the results of the election and had no trouble staying up until dawn to keep track of the election results.
I also saw on TV the swearing in of the PH chairman,Tun Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysia’s seventh Prime Minister in front of the King, Sultan Muhammad V, at the palace in Kuala Lumpur after the shock defeat of the Barisan Nasional government in the GE14 and the historic victory of the PH coalition.
The next big news items shared in the WhatsApp groups were the appointment of the new Ministers in the PH governmentand the seizure of cash and luxury goods from the residences of former Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as well as his court appearance in Kuala Lumpur.
As time passed by, the WhatsApp groups became bigger with the inclusion of more members. Slowly, I lost track of the number of members. Anyway, do you know that the maximum number of people in a WhatsApp group is 256?
One of the ways I de-stress after a hard night’s work in the office is to watch Chinese or Korean dramas online. There were times when I could not watch the dramas smoothly because of the huge volume of media traffic from the WhatsApp groups.
I had to stop watching the dramas for a while to clear the media traffic in order to increase my storage space.
Suddenly, one morning, I woke up to find about 100 messages and over 20 videos from one of the WhatsApp groups. That was a big shock to me. When I checked the messages, I found that they were of no interest to me.
To make way for more storage space, I had no choice but to spend the next 30 minutes clearing the media traffic.
After that, I underwent the same routine every morning until finally, I told myself “Enough is enough!” I told myself that it was time to leave the WhatsApp groups. Never mind if I offended the well-meaning and kind friends who included me in the groups initially. I told myself it was time for me to say no without feeling guilty. It was time for me to say no to things that stressed me out.
Indeed, with the passage of time, the subjects discussed in the groups had become uninteresting. They were either too technical or beyond my scope.
In life, there comes a time when all of us must learn to love ourselves more. “Make yourself a priority once in a while, It’s not selfish. It’s necessary.” I totally agree with this self-care quote after my experience with the two WhatsApp groups. The WhatsApp groups had kept me very busy even when all that I wanted to do was to relax after a hard night’s work.
How do I avoid a WhatsApp group? How can I block WhatsApp group? These are, surprisingly, the two common questions asked online by netizens.
My friends, if you wake up every morning to find your storage space is gone because of the nearly 100 messages and over 20 videos which were sent overnight, perhaps it is time to reconsider what are your priorities in life.
Now, I can finally understand why some peope do not want to belong to any WhatsApp groups.
By the way, how many WhatsApp groups do you belong to and how many Whatsapp groups do you need?
Although I have left the WhatsApp groups set up on the day of the GE14 and a few days after that, I am still a member of four WhatsApp groups. One group is set up by my Toastmasters Club; it allows me to stay connected with my club members.
Another WhatsApp group set by my office allows me to keep in touch with my colleagues while another WhatsApp group set by my former schoolmates helps us to share photos, updates and special moments.
The last one is my family’s WhatsApp group which helps me keep in touch with my family members no matter where they are. What I like about these WhatsApp groups is the low volume of media traffic.
What is your profile picture on WhatsApp? Recently, a new friend, confused by my profile picture, sent me this message: “Do you have WhatsApp? I saw your WhatsApp picture is a young woman. I am not sure if that is your WhatsApp. So don’t dare to text u there.”
My reply to her was “Ha, Ha, Ha! That’s my WhatsApp.”
A few other new friends have also been confused by my profile picture. A few not so new friends had the cheek to ask me “Did you look like that when you were young?”
To these people, I firmly replied:” Yes.”
My best friend, who is very IT-savvy and lives in Sibu, recommended my profile picture to me. She took a picture of me while we were strolling around one of the parks in the town during one of my holidays there and with the help of Pitu, the app on Google which at least 10 million netizens have downloaded, modified my picture. In a matter of seconds, I was transformed into the young woman which you will see if you access my profile picture.
Never mind what my new friends and not so new friends say, I will keep the profile picture. It is a gift from my best friend. Besides, I really looked like that years ago. If you don’t believe me, just ask my best friend!
