The Many Masks of Social Media. Whatsapp goes down.

[adrianh]

Whatsapp is no different to having 2 way radios at hand - One has to manage the process. The biggest drawback for me with Whatsapp is that people message whatever crap comes to mind immediately and thus don't think their ideas through. My daughter and her company are back n forth via Whatsapp all the time day and night. I told her many many times that they should have scheduled meetings (even on Whatapp) so that people can prepare and then focus for the meeting time.

Whatsapp is a focus killer - I had to get rid of an employee that would work with the phone in his hand having conversations all the time.

The problem is not Whatsapp per se - it is the inability of modern day people to focus on one thing at a time - Imagine if the brain surgeon had a phone in his hand all day faffing with 50 parallel conversations whilst operating on a patient.

[adrianh]

I agree I may be behind the times, but I just hate all the apps and doing business on my phone. Can you imagine the frustration of communicating via WhatsApp if you do not even know who you are talking to? Unknown number not in your address book asking for stuff that he doesn't even have the faintest idea of? When a complete stranger without a name sends a WhatsApp request he gets moved to the back of the queue as mostly it is a guy just "fishing" and not interested in real business. I killed the alert as it is distracting and an intrusion in my work day.

At least if a guy has a decent business he will have a signature at the bottom of his email with his business name and tel number so that I can see who I am dealing with. It is so easy to plan for tomorrow or the week ahead so that you can get your supplies in time. Last minute "emergency" orders always create problems as stock may not be available or some unforeseen obstacle may pop up. As all orders are fed into a computer, capturing is so much easier if sent by email.

The worst is voicemail. Impersonal and most of the times inaudible. I try to build personal relationships with my clients and customers as my business rely on their support. Therefore I like to talk to them to get feedback as well.

Put TrueCaller on your phone. It recognizes 99% of numbers and displays the name of the person or company when the phone rings (It also recognizes Whatsapp names and numbers so you know exactly who you are dealing with)

[ians]

I got crapped on by a customer for not answering my phone ... apparently he tried to call me 6 times ... I was working on his site.

When he returned to site he had a go at me ... and I informed him that I dont carry a phone on me while working on a site ... same with staff on site ... the customer pays by the hour.

My response was simple if you are happy for me to spend time on my phone while working on the site ... I will gladly carry and use my phone while on his site ... his response ... no it is fine I will call the office next time and ask them to relay a message to you .. that what I thought he would say.

[Justloadit]

I have the same thing with some customers, where they phone the office

Customer "I want to speak to V....."
Receptionist "Sorry but V.. is busy right now, can I take a message?"
Customer "NO!, give me his cell number"
Receptionist "Sorry I can not do that, can I take a message"
Customer "What damn business is this that you can not give me his cell number?"
Receptionist "Sorry sir, can I take a message?'
Customer "Oh x%&$"
Puts the phone down.

What customers do not understand, when I am doing some development, and have my hands near 300 to 500V D.C., I do not want to be interupped OK!
If it is urgent, let the receptionist know, and she will relay the message, but they you are going to have to wait a little bit until I am in a safe zone again.
Don't they get it!

[adrianh]

Communications is at OUR convenience - WE make the rules.

[Blurock]

Put TrueCaller on your phone. It recognizes 99% of numbers and displays the name of the person or company when the phone rings (It also recognizes Whatsapp names and numbers so you know exactly who you are dealing with)

TrueCaller does not tell me if Joe Soap has a business or whether he is that irritating little man from Hong Kong who wants to sell me an investment. I have blocked him so many times but but they change numbers and mask it to look like a local number. When I am working on a big project I do not have the time to answer stupid questions and answer "surveys" which is a new way of trying to get your attention.

I am old fashioned. Send me an email with your request and a signature so that I can see who I'm dealing with.
I will get back to you ASAP or filter you out and block you if you are a spammer.

as you said

Whatsapp is a focus killer

and an unwanted interruption in my work day.

[New Perspective studio]

Wha ha ha hahahahaha - This made my day coming from a Tech Website / Design company THAT HAS A CHAT WITH US VIA WHATSAPP ON THEIR SITE!!!!!!!!

I think I cracked a rib laughing at this lot!

Thanks man... I really had a good laugh.

On a serious note:

Communism definition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

LoL - So what is Facebook, Instagram, Google and all the other big player scumbags?

This is what they are:

How Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft wage a domestic War on Terror, and make billions

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/534939-big-tech-911-profit/

Yea that's kind of the point though isn't it?... we are forced into it, even those of us who despise it, because it is what clients want, so we are in fact part of the problem.
Thanks for your input and im glad I could give you a laugh.

Perhaps there is a better word for censorship, collective ownership, central planning, presenting an illusion of a "common good", propaganda ... for now, I leave it communism though.

The link you posted is new info to me it doesn't surprise me though.

[adrianh]

Yea that's kind of the point though isn't it?... we are forced into it, even those of us who despise it, because it is what clients want, so we are in fact part of the problem.
Thanks for your input and im glad I could give you a laugh.

Perhaps there is a better word for censorship, collective ownership, central planning, presenting an illusion of a "common good", propaganda ... for now, I leave it communism though.

The link you posted is new info to me it doesn't surprise me though.

I tip my hat to you - Very well put!!!!!!

[adrianh]

Another thing that annoys me about Whatsapp is this: People no longer rely on their own memory - they dump it on other people.

I have a ToDo list on my phone - If I working and I think that I should phone so an so about something I put it on my to do list. If I need to buy something I also put it on my list.
The list is used to log all the stuff I have to deal with.

Some people, like my one daughter doesn't use a list - she tries to use me as her list via Whatsapp - "Dad I need Tabard", "Dad I need this or that" etc. That goes for customers too - They would message at odd hours with some of other request that just popped into their brains.

This mental laziness to keep track of their own to do lists gets pushed onto others. I see how this happens in my daughter's work - they sit on Whatsapp popping half baked messages back and forth because they do not make lists and of course the ideas are not thought through. A list gives one time to think the topic through before sending it or discussing it.

So the lesson is this with messaging apps like Whatsapp - Be careful not to try and replace your own to do list by pushing whatever pops into your brain onto others - THEY ARE NOT YOUR EXTENDED MEMORY!!!!! WELL I AM NOT - I can't even keep my own crap straight!

[Blurock]

Yea that's kind of the point though isn't it?... we are forced into it, even those of us who despise it, because it is what clients want, so we are in fact part of the problem.
Thanks for your input and im glad I could give you a laugh.

No, we are not forced into it. Make a stand an refuse to be bullied into receiving half baked messages on WhatsApp.
I do not want to deal with unprofessional people who are too lazy to send a proper Purchase Order or request for a quote.

I see that some Body Corps now also send out these lazy half baked messages. It's OK if it is just a general communique such as "there will be load shedding from 10 am" etc, but if it is e.g. a request for approval to pay or do something, it has to follow the formal procedures. Businesses and all juristic bodies require a paper trail to be kept as record of transactions. That is why WA is crap in a business environment.

Yes, I am old fashioned, but the customer is not always right. If you are too lazy to do the paperwork, I'm not going to do it for you.

[adrianh]

No, we are not forced into it.

This isn't fair on @New Perspective studio - He said that AS AN IT COMPANY he is forced into enabling the service because that is what his market wants. He also said that he personally despises it.

[adrianh]

All the communication systems have one serious drawback - there are too many of them. I am sitting here fretting because I know I got a message from a prospective client yesterday which I read - I thought that I would reply today. I can't for the life of me remember whether it was via....1 of 3 email addresses, 1 of 2 Facebook addresses (personal and work), Whastapp, Telegram or SMS or Telepathy

Stupid stuff... there are so many options that the information gets lost between all the different systems...let alone folders and blockers and stuff....

Eish....

[Blurock]

One cannot be expected to use all the different social media apps. I do not use Messenger, Instagram, and a host of others that I do not even know the name of. Imagine getting a purchase order on Tik-Tok! WTF!

I want to do business, not play. I give my customers the best service that I can. So keep it professional and we are all on the same page.

[Justloadit]

The worst is getting an invoice on WhatsApp
WTF, now the effort to print this invoice!
They already were on their PC to send the invoice, why did they not use email?
Email is now accepted as an official form of communication.
There is no back up for WhatsApp unless you specifically set it up, why do I want to back up WhatsApp?
Try and search for a message on WhatsApp? As far as I know there is no search function

[adrianh]

The worst is getting an invoice on WhatsApp
WTF, now the effort to print this invoice!
They already were on their PC to send the invoice, why did they not use email?
Email is now accepted as an official form of communication.
There is no back up for WhatsApp unless you specifically set it up, why do I want to back up WhatsApp?
Try and search for a message on WhatsApp? As far as I know there is no search function

I do find Whatapp on the PC to be very useful. It is one of the fastest ways to move information between people. I do work for an Industrial Designer and he is out and about all the time. I often capture 3D renders of projects on the PC and just send them via Whatsapp. We sometimes connect via video when we need to discuss parts etc because we can do show n tell.

I do agree though that sending invoices and orders etc is not nice - Like you said - at least with email you have better data retention and security.