One of those was being able to go on holiday without being continually contacted, because the price of sending a text message was the same as a glass of wine. WhatsApp has obliterated that.
Over the past year, I've noticed how much harder it has been to switch off as a result of the incessant flow of information. I have walked in the Polish countryside foraging for mushrooms under a crisp blue sky, while listening to a friend's voice note about their work worries.
After I spent a glorious day out with my 10-year-old niece in Barcelona, eating dumplings and buying stickers, a friend decided to share an emotionally difficult update about a mutual friend's bad health. While I was in the Maldives, after I had watched a stingray glide below me in a cobalt-blue ocean, a cousin sent me a rundown of a date where the guy had sneezed all over her food.
Unlike social media and email apps, which can be temporarily deleted, WhatsApp is the dominant method that many of us use to communicate with our loved ones. Deleting it even while on holiday doesn't feel like an option, when people use it to convey important information alongside everyday dross. The problem isn't the app itself; it's the fact that being available 24/7 means we have lost our sense of boundaries in terms of what to communicate and when.
Dit verhaal komt uit de January 03, 2025 editie van The Guardian Weekly.
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Dit verhaal komt uit de January 03, 2025 editie van The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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