If you cannot do these 6, exit that WhatsApp group

Imagine scrolling through over 100 messages and none of them is relevant to you or the purpose for which the WhatsApp group you are in was created. Such is my everyday experience.

Last year, I was added to a WhatsApp group with over 150 members with whom we share a common academic objective. Like all WhatsApp groups, ours was created to ease communication and coordination among us. However, three months since its creation, the group has evolved into a platform for everything but the primary purpose for its creation.

Small talk messages filled with sexual innuendo now dominate the group’s timeline. And with every day having over 100 messages, it’s now almost impossible to pick out any official communication relevant to our shared objective.

Incidentally, all the hundreds of irrelevant messages are posted by less than 10 individuals who seem to have hijacked the group.?

Last month I proposed that the group administrators restrict posting on the group to only group administrators who will then post thereon all official communication related to our shared common objective.

I never got a response from any of the administrators. Instead, some members responded to my message accusing me of attacking them for keeping the group active. One even responded to my message asking, “Who are you?”?

We—human beings—are our strongest asset and greatest liability. All the good things in the world have been started by us and all that has been destroyed has been destroyed by us.

WhatsApp groups are a powerful communication tool. However, individual members have rendered many of these groups irrelevant, to say the least.?

If you are part of a WhatsApp group, here are six things you should do lest you become the reason the group loses relevance to its members.

1. If you can’t say it in public, don’t post it

Last year we had an ugly exchange on the aforementioned WhatsApp group where two female members insulted and abused each other (and their parents) on the group. During the exchange, one member alleged/revealed that the other had used the toilet and not flushed.

Think about it: are these things any of these women would have said to us if we were all gathered physically? I highly doubt it.?

Being physically away from people is not a license for you to communicate carelessly to them. Your communication—in-person or virtual—will always have an impact because you are communicating to real people.?

Therefore, as a principle for all your WhatsApp group communications, if you would never say something to members of a group if they were physically present, do not post it on the group.

2. Be respectful

It is very important that when communicating on any WhatsApp group, you communicate respectfully.

Even if you disagree with a communication on the group, do it respectfully because it’s not just the person you are disagreeing with going to read your message(s) but everyone thereon. And as people read your messages, they conjure up a reputation of you.

Consider my aforementioned group with over 150 members, how well do you think we all know each other? Barely! And yet, life and dreams are built on relationships. You never know who is reading your message and where you may meet them and/or need them. So, always communicate respectfully.

3. Don’t send personal messages

Everyone on a WhatsApp group can be accessed in their inbox. If you have a message that is of no relevance to any other person in the group except the person you want to write to, write to the concerned person directly in their inbox.

To the other members of the group, any irrelevant messages are noise. Don't be a noise maker.

4. Don’t be a pseudo-journalist

Leave the gathering and sharing of news to journalists. Don’t be the one who is always sharing anything you consider news on the group unless you are a journalist. Members of any WhatsApp know where to find news and it’s not that group.

Always sharing anything you consider news on the group only suggests that you are always idle or a busybody.

If you must share news on the group, adhere to the proper journalistic principles i.e. always first verify the news and before sharing it, quote your source. Also, avoid sharing images that some people may find disturbing.

5. Limit your messages to the purpose of the group

As I mentioned earlier, every group has a purpose for which it is created. Before posting a message on any WhatsApp group, ask yourself: does this message advance the purpose of for which the group was formed? If it doesn’t, don’t share it.

It’s okay to once in a while have some AOB shared on the group, but this should be minimal. A WhatsApp group that offers value to its members is one where the majority of the messages thereon are related to the primary purpose for which the group was created. If you are a group admin, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your group offers value to the members.

6. Don’t promote selfish agendas

Like all groups, the common objective(s) should overshadow any individual objective(s). Do not turn a WhatsApp group into a platform to promote your agenda or business. Even sharing of personal spiritual beliefs should be done only with permission from the group.?

If you would like to convert any of the group members into your fans, customers, or believers in your faith, well, the group allows you access to individual contacts. Reach out to group members individually and make your pitch. By the way, in case you didn’t know, pitching to individuals (as opposed to groups) offers better conversion rates.