Ultimate Whatsappian Guide for everyday living!

By Sreekumar Raghavan

At the time of writing this several millions became Whatsappians, some said holiday to it and was back but still others not knowing how to fruitfully utilize this mixed blessing.

Whatsapp is indeed a user-friendly social communication tool to be engaged in groups, one-to-one communications and even broadcast messages to a wider group which an ordinary phone cannot provide.

If it is consuming too much of your time, then the following tips may help you:

@Keep Limits on Whatsapp Use: Whatsapp is live 24 hours of the day, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep it on most of the time. Work hours, time with family, reading hours, serious TV watching can be hampered if Whatsapp is on.  Dip into Whatsapp at leisurely hours and if possible keep its usage to 1 or 2 hours a day.

@Avoid Whatsapp use when small children are around: Children often complain about excessive use of Whatsapp by parents and unable to get the attention they need. It would be better to avoid or restrict use of Whatsapp when your children are around.

@Keep Group notifications muted: It is natural that you could be part of several Whatsapp groups which constantly engage in conversations and sharing of pictures, video. It is better to keep group notifications ‘off’ and read the notifications or comment when you have time for it.

@Diversion technique: if you feel like opening your Whatsapp, divert your attention to something else that requires some effort- for example, reading, re-arranging books, clothes, cleaning the room,  playing with your children.

@Leave Groups that are irrelevant for you: At some point of time being part of a group may have been relevant. But if you have left the organization or the club, you can very well exit from the group and save the misery of getting useless updates from them.

@Keep conversations private: Be careful not to post personal messages in groups and messages meant for one group in another. This happens when you are stressed out due to too much Whatsapp and FB exposure.

@Inform Whatsappians about your holidays: if you are taking leave Whatsapp for a while, inform fellow Whatsappians so that they will SMS or call you in case of urgency or emergency.

@Whatsapp @work. Some companies now create Whatsapp groups for people with in the same department or holding similar functions. It is better for the group admin to evolve rules on what ought to be communicated or shared and how frequently one should look for updates and respond.  If a particular message is addressed to you or related to the work you are doing, you need to respond  as early as possible.

@Report Abuse: It is not uncommon for women to get threatening, abusive messages on Whatsapp  from people they may not be very familiar with. It is better to block such people in your mobile or  report abusive behaviour to Police and get the issue redressed. It is better to keep your profile  pictures and other information accessible only to your friends and not to public.

@Double Tick no response: Some times you find a double tick for your Whatsapp message but your

  friend hasn't read it. It doesn't mean you are being ignored, it may be because they are busy or

  travelling and not able to access Whatsapp properly. If it's an urgent message call them up and ask

 whether they have seen the message.

@General Rules: Don’t share credit card, bank account details or personal details in groups as  security could be compromised.

When Facebook becomes a window to the world

I was drawn into Facebook partly for personal and partly for official reasons. In fact, I began looking seriously at social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to actually look at ways to promote the sites I am working for. Initially, I too had a Facebook page with updates done once in a while and basically to further share some of the stories that Commodity Online (www.commodityonline.com), Bulliion Street (www.bullionstreet.com) published.

But now thanks to internet on mobile and my desire to keep up with what my friends and relatives are doing, I now check FB several times a day. Infact, when a small beep comes on my mobile signalling an FB update or notification I am tempted to immediately look into it- Just to find how others have responded to a funny post that I put or an interesting comment or a post I shared.

Still more as an editor who needs to keep track of Indian economy, global economy, markets and commodities in particular, FB as emerged as the best medium. You just need to like a lot of news sites across the world and immediately you have alerts of the best possible news and analysis published anywhere in the world. Some of my recent column ideas emerged from FB posts shared by my friends and some news breaks put by other news media sites.

Now waiting for your turn at a hair saloon, at a doctor's clinic or in any other place is no longer tiring as long as you have net connectivity on your mobile. Whatsapp continues to provide a medium for private communication and among groups. Some of the best and worst jokes, photos and videos are now being shared on Whatsapp.

Infact, when I have to communicate something even if it's a joke or an advice with my son, I find Whatsapp to be a better medium.Sometimes, when multiple messages appear on Whatsapp, Hangouts, Messenger apart from email reminders, your multi-tasking abilities will be put to test. (I sometimes envy my wife Aswathy who has recently attained a sort of stardom after becoming a Zumba fitness trainer and wellness-enthusiast as her mobile is never silent- with f\ans and well wishers wanting to chat and inundated with friend requests from across the globe. And this goes on well into the night until she switches off her data connection!!) As with most stars and celebrites, I told her she may well have to have a public FB profile that's accessible and the other that's private!!

As with any other medium, there are several reports of cyber crimes happening in social media and that's only to be expected with most of the victims being hapless girls and women. However, I feel our cyber laws are sufficiently well drafted to bring all such people to book but more importantly the police now employ the most sophisticated cyber solutions to frame a criminal.

Medium for positive thoughts
FB has also now become a medium for sharing positive thoughts and quotes from scriptures, religious books, philosophers, scientists like Abdul Kalam and gurus such as Sri Sri Ravishankar. It also becomes a vibrant medium to share human interest stories from across the world. Like this one I just read: A Chinese youth whose love proposal was turned down seven years ago by a girl saying he didn't have money to buy two movie tickets and has now emerged rich and bought the entire first day's ticket of a recently released movie. The youth said her former lover called her on hearing this news but was in no position to rekindle the relationship!!!

Or the interesting news that a man in Mumbai filed for a divorce saying his wife had put on weight. However, the Mumbai High Court turned down the plea saying it was not sufficient grounds for divorce.

On a personal note, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements are all for sharing on FB and so is mundane every day activities. For some, a favourite past time is changing their profile picture and cover photo every now and then.

A time-pass
It may appear that most of the activity in social media is being pursued just to while away time but that doesn't mean FB or Twitter can't be used creatively. In fact many politicians let known their views on a variety of topics through twitter and FB. For several others out there in cyberspace but not in FB or inactive in FB, I would only recommend to use these media creatively for their own benefit- businesses are realising so should individuals.