What 100 Million Indians Are Yapping On WhatsApp

For a medium that is very popular among almost a billion users across the globe, information about WhatsApp is conspicuously missing on the web. There is an interview with the founder ten days old that indicates WhatsApp had reached a user-base of 990 million (https://www.wired.com/2016/01/whatsapp-is-nearing-a-billion-users-now-its-time-to-find-the-money/) with nearly a 100 million of them being from India. A year into using WhatsApp, I have found that this messaging app has made itself a significant and inalienable part of its users’ lives in India. Not being a great fan of any kind of social media, I had stayed away from WhatsApp too, till I downloaded the WhatsApp app on my smartphone to enable me to stay connected with colleagues on work matters. It did not take me too long in the last one year to find out how Indians had taken to WhatsApp like fish to water, with the app being a key part of their everyday lives, whether at work, outside of it or just about anywhere. Replace as it had, primarily the Short Messaging Service (SMS) and with features much superior to SMS, the free messaging service WhatsApp seems to have unleashed the latent urge among Indians to connect with as many fellow Indians through messaging. That there is no limit of number of messages or images or videos that one could post seems to be one attribute of WhatsApp that seems to have endeared it to Indians. The range of subjects of WhatsApp messages is a veritable A to Z of everything people anywhere discuss but with a preponderance of photos and videos that WhatsApp has made it very easy to share. Here is my highly subjective list of what Indians are yapping on WhatsApp, based on my connecting with friends, relatives, colleagues and business acquaintances all through a messaging medium that has truly connected millions of Indians. I have used the words posts and messages interchangeably in this update. Also, not having been part of many groups with international users, this list is based only on what I have observed randomly in exchanges with Indian users of WhatsApp.

Alcohol: I have not been part of any groups of women, so can’t say whether they discuss alcohol but if you are in any group with men, this is one of the most common topics. Information is shared on the supposed benefits of drinking as also jokes about drinking alcohol. I think the love-hate relationship Indians have with alcohol is reflected in regular posts on the subject.
Bollywood: No surprises here. Bollywood stars are followed closely and their lives are a very common topic of discussion, like in real life. Audio files of old Hindi movie songs are also common posts. Of course, there being several other movie-making regions in India apart from Mumbai, the equivalent of Bollywood in other regions are also good providers of content for WhatsApp posts.
Corruption: Politicians and corruption are favourite subjects of discussion and it is common to find Indian politicians getting the stick on WhatsApp too. Of course, Indians find corruption worthy of discussion even in-spite of the fact that those that give bribes are very likely to be part of groups as the ones they berate for indulging in such malpractice.
Cricket: This sport is equivalent to religion in India and no surprises here that information about it is widely shared. The new IPL T-20 season is on and I received yesterday a schedule of the whole tournament running into a long list. Photos of cricketers, videos of games and all kinds of posts on the game, within India and outside are passionately sent and read.
Debates: Even though WhatsApp is highly unsuited for any kind of conversation between two people, it is common to find debates on just about anything happening on it. The shrill television debates on newshour that have become common in past few years have their equivalent on WhatsApp without of course a news anchor and with a free for all, as there really is no moderator on any group, barring those that start it and watch helplessly debates that rage on.
Entertainment: Not being a viewer of TV, I found the varied videos posted on WhatsApp a good substitute to get me a flavour of what Indians watch and savour on their smartphone screens. My collection of un-viewed videos from those that I received over a year was more than 250, even after I had deleted several after viewing them! I had to actually move all such videos from my phone memory after repeated warning messages on the phone that it was running out of memory.
Forwards: As a member of email groups till recently (now they all seem to be dead with the onslaught of WhatsApp and Facebook groups) I used to contend with the forwards of some users who seem adept only at finding and forwarding messages by email. Their counterparts on WhatsApp do the same on this medium, choking bandwidth and clogging phone memories of users. Though there is no indication that a message is forwarded, the words, ‘Truncated by WhatsApp’ are a common giveaway to such practice. Even when there is a character limit to posts (though not oblivious and not stated explicitly) it is not uncommon to find literally thousands of words of text being forwarded by use of WhatsApp. I always wonder how a recipient would read such a long message, but perhaps some users do.
Greetings: Some users on WhatsApp seem to exist only to wish good morning to others and then to post some inspirational message regularly. There seems to be an industry for producing inspirational messages on WhatsApp! Indian telecom companies with their bizarre practice of charging higher SMS charges on Indian festival days must be ruing the arrival of WhatsApp. Indian festivals are no more the same with text, photos and videos all being shared freely, all on WhatsApp and almost none on SMS, to the chagrin of Indian telecom service providers. We now have greetings even on Republic Day, a practice not really common till date and so too with celebrations and festivals that may not have evoked such feelings till recently. Graphic and video greetings on WhatsApp are the new way of greeting fellow Indians and this trend seems to have come to stay for long.
Hoaxes: The medium abounds in hoaxes. A popular one is how the Indian National Anthem had been voted the best such, at the UN! Another recent one had a post on a viral disease of humans that would spread through insects with pictures of a scary looking insect and blotches on the hand of a victim supposedly afflicted by the viral skin disease spread by such insect. The best hoax I liked of course was pictures of crocodiles floating in water supposedly after the recent floods in Chennai – till even the Madras Snake Park had to issue a press statement that all their park residents, four legged and of the slithering kind were all safe, despite the flood-inducing rains!
Intolerance: It is well established extremist groups the world over love social media and so too with WhatsApp in India. There seem to be intolerant groups of all kinds that have bandied together on WhatsApp and their vitriolic posts find their way into other groups too as forwards. Any terror incident triggers such posts and recycling of old ones to keep the subject alive.
Invitations: I recently received a wedding invitation of an acquaintance’s daughter only by WhatsApp and being away from the city where the marriage ceremony took place, I responded on WhatsApp with my greetings to the bride and groom and the bride’s father. I got a thank you note from the acquaintance, also on WhatsApp.
Jokes: The medium is made for this kind of light hearted message. So, expect jokes and cartoons of all kinds floating around. These posts make for a relaxing viewing and reading. This is one of my favourite categories of WhatsApp posts.
Kith and kin: Among groups that have come together to leverage WhatsApp are family groups distributed geographically and sometimes in vicinity of each other (like in a family living together). The grouping feature has been a god-send for widely dispersed families and I have heard of people being members of dozens of such groups! No more problems in tracking the news about one’s kith and kin – there is a WhatsApp group for every branch of the great Indian family.
Love: Among the amusing experiences I have of WhatsApp, is a message from a user meant probably for his spouse finding its way into a group! Not too many took notice of it, but the message was intimate and not intended for public viewing. Lovers and spouses are likely to be among avid users of WhatsApp freed from the need to pay phone companies for SMS that would otherwise had been used to send romantic messages.
Modi: In one of the groups I was member of, eulogistic posts about the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were regular features. They did lead to debate on whether those posts were propaganda or praise! Such posts made me think that the Modi was perhaps among most discussed persons in India on WhatsApp. Whether by his supporters or detractors, Modi is either being dissected or pilloried or praised and deified. My view is that far from television studios and newspaper edit rooms, the next parliamentary election of 2019 is now being fought on WhatsApp. PM Modi being the face of the present government is having his uncounted supporters keep the last election campaign alive and the next campaign readied, thanks to WhatsApp.
Nostalgia: This is a common theme of posts among alumni groups. It is stirred by recounting of incidents and posting of old pictures. In fact, nostalgia is among the top themes on WhatsApp with groups banding together on strength of shared classes or workplace or just about any shared time.
Obituaries: A few words and some emojis are now a common response to announcements of death or news of it. No subject seems taboo or kosher for WhatsApp with even pictures of deceased are being posted without any discomfort. I am not comfortable with discussing death on a messaging medium but then not many users in India are so squeamish.
Photos: These are probably among the top three posts in India with greetings and videos being close. In fact there seem to be many enterprises set up just to produce photographs to be posted on WhatsApp. With cameras being integrated into Smartphones and a picture being better than any number of words, photos are among choice content of WhatsApp posts. That they end up stacking on a phone’s memory is small matter, as every Smartphone user is now a photographer!
Quotes: Inspirational quotes with lovely pictures posted mostly as the first one for the day by a user are among most common posts. A WhatsApp user does not need to feel down as there are tens, if not hundreds of motivating messages with matching graphics to perk up the mood of the recipient!
Religion: This is probably among top subjects in India on WhatsApp along with politics, Bollywood and cricket. I heard from a friend that this is indeed the case with his spouse being recipient of scriptural knowledge through her account as also recordings of the talks by religious personalities.
School matters: Some Indian parents with their excessive concern for their wards are very active in parent groups. I heard from friends how parents of kids want to settle scores in their kids fights at school over WhatsApp. Rants about the maladministration in the school and the poor teaching by the teachers are common subjects of debate. School children often have their own groups exchanging banter about life at school as also tips, tricks and questions on exams and subjects of study.
Travel posts: Pictures and videos of travel are common but the medium is a poor second to something like Facebook where the user is likely to get far better response from those viewing the update.
Unusual stuff: I viewed a video of a Japanese girl putting different types of animals to sleep just by talking to them in some mysterious language. There was another video of amazingly colourful birds with interesting calls. Then there are posts which give us an insight into the origins and meanings of common subjects but none dared to think about. Of course, one can always raise a query in a group and get answers to it.
Videos: They are among the top posts on WhatsApp in India. Initially, when new to WhatsApp, I used to actually write into groups requesting those posting videos to let the recipients know what the video was about! I had to stop such pleading after I realised that users just don’t bother with such etiquette. ‘Have access and content and will post video’ seems to the basic dictum on WhatsApp in India. The numerous videos in one group I was member of filled up my phone memory till I had to exit that group.
Work matters: As a reaction to the oppression of email, work groups are forming and making it easier to informally update and communicate with colleagues. This is one benefit of WhatsApp which even the founders may not have foreseen. For its ease of use, WhatsApp has very few other equals and it definitely is a useful medium for transacting work without formality. The photo and video posting features make it useful too and if anything the versatility of the medium has not been much used by companies.
Xenophobic posts: These are common with hate directed towards members of a religion or of a country or a community. Not very surprising, as being uncomfortable with people not like us is not very uncommon in India.
Yapping: WhatsApp seems a god-send for Indians to indulge in non-stop yapping. With just a quarter of the 400 million internet users being adopters of it, just imagine what will happen when more millions of Indians take to WhatsApp.
Zany: I have heard from several people of how they exited the medium itself having put up with the non-stop posts of all kinds. Some users do get zany after using WhatsApp and that is not surprising. I have myself exited from a group that forced me to join it and actually re-joined me after I exited once.

I am tempted to post this on WhatsApp but for brevity’s sake choose to update it on LinkedIn. You can WhatsApp me your response though!