WHATS APP USE & ETHICS

Whats app has been extensively used for personal and professional purposes yet its use has been much distracting by many. So here I have jotted down some important aspects that can help you all learn few new things if you don't know them already and you can share the same among your contacts.

1. Whats App Groups:

Whats app serves best for professional projects having teams at distant places and geographical locations. Closed groups are used widely among colleagues to discuss projects and progress etc. However, it has been observed that while being in a close purposeful group, people send #irrelevant /#forwarded messages, that is a complete NO. Keep that group for discussions and communication limited to that project/task only. If irrelevant messages are sent/exchanged by some members, this can be very unprofessional and can agitate other members. In this way, the #real important messages are lost in-between.

2. Deleting Sent Messages:

Whats app gives an option of deleting the message(s) once sent. You can use this feature when required. By selecting the message and clicking on delete button, it will give you an option of "Delete for Everyone" and there you go! However, to clear the history of messages, you can always select "Clear messages" on top right corner of the window. "Delete for Me" option can be used for any message that you do not want to see/ keep in the chat but others will still be seeing it.

3. Group Admins Controls:

The new feature at Whats app allows the #Group #Admins to restrict the members from posting any message in group chat. Such groups are meant for information sharing only by Admins. The good part is, by being in such a group, one can have contacts and get to know who else is there with similar interests and interact with them individually, if required.

4. Broadcast lists for regular messages

Many people are unaware of the #Broadcast lists at Whats app. If you have a specific group of people with whom you like to share certain messages on daily or weekly basis but you want to avoid making Groups so that intra-group discussions do not take place, then, you can develop a Broadcast List of all those contacts and send them the same message in one go. This way, they will receive the message separately in their window and would see it directly from you just like other direct messages. This method is being used by many people now for marketing of their services.

5. Backing-up of messages:

Whats app allows us to schedule a daily backup of our messages to our emails. It is an amazing feature to create a record and keep your phone memory free of clutter.

6. Inviting contacts to group through link:

Since technology gives us a great advantage of communication through various tools and applications, let us make best use of it. While adding people to group chats, #always ask them. The best method is to create a group chat and then send #invitation #link to those who you want to join in. Let them join upon their own consent. This sounds more professional. However, the down side is that anyone with that link can always join that group. You, being the Group Admin can always delete the unwanted contacts.

7. Group Description:

Group Chats have a space for Group description. Be clear and concise and always try to add this for all members to see what the group is about and its Do's and Dont's. This way, all members will know and it will be a reminder for them to keep the messages relevant to the group description.

8. General texting rule:

While sending someone a text message, always write your name/introduce yourself first. Exception with only those that are in your close contact & you are pretty sure that they have your contact number saved in their phone.

9. Archiving the Chats:

Whats app has not provided the feature of making Folders yet - that I really dream for. But yes, you can always archive certain chats that you do not want to delete but do not even want to appear every time you open the application.

10. Pin the Chats:

You can Pin maximum of three chats in your whats app. These pinned chats will always appear on the top of all chats so you do not have to search them for sending messages. You can use this feature to pin the chats with the contacts you send messages most frequently.

11: Blocking the contacts:

You can always block the contacts you don't want to hear from.

12: Whats App Web:

It is the feature that allows you to communicate with your contacts/ friends from your PC browsers.

13: Whats App Settings:

You can check the Privacy details, Chat backups, Notifications, Data usage and storage from Settings. It allows you to customize your settings according to your use. You can always explore from there. However, I'd like to share what some people do not know. You can choose to select No media auto-download to avoid cluttering your phone gallery.

I'll be happy to hear more options and features that I might have missed in this write up.

Glad to share!

Authored by Sameen Zaki – A Career Advisor, Developmental Counselor and an Avid Social Media user.