If I Don’t Answer On WhatsApp, I Can’t Or Don’t Want To

The emotional compulsion to which the technology of immediacy submits us, for example through WhatsApp , is annihilating the principles of good communication. It is normal to experience numerous conflicts with people who require a certain diligence in conversation.

We are not obliged to respond, but we are morally under pressure to do so. This ends up exhausting us and making our contacts with others a real odyssey.

It is for this reason that it is good to evaluate these “technological rights” and enforce our wishes. The obstinacy in meeting the expectations of others exhausts us, intoxicates us and damages our identity.

Who hasn’t ever been criticized for the way you respond to messages? Who has never been cornered or has not been a victim of the haste of others? Who has never thought that social networks were permanently violating our intimacy?

Whether or not to answer is our decision

We have the right not to answer if we don’t want to or to do it when we prefer. This right is also valid for posting on social networks . The world is full of people who have decided to take a break and leave the world of WhatsApp or other applications with the aim of lightening their life and indulging in some peace.

In doing so, they have been criticized and judged by many. In reality, not answering does not mean being asocial or rude as so many want us to believe: we are simply making use of our rights.

We must not submit to the tyranny of new technologies, as doing so means letting our willpower die.

The psychological vulnerability in the face of WhatsApp

The subject of this article will not be warned in the same way by all readers. Psychological vulnerability largely depends on the personality characteristics or emotional states that define a person at a certain time.

Some studies have been carried out that intend to explain the addiction and inappropriate use of new technologies. These researches revealed some profiles in particular:

• Low self-esteem

  : people with a greater tendency to seek support from others and with a high need for social approval. Due to these needs, it is typical for cell phones to be misused.

• Extroversion

  : extroverted people tend to look for particular social situations, which leads to improper use of the mobile phone.

• Impulsiveness

  : the poor ability to reflect on the possible consequences of an action causes inappropriate behavior in the relationship with others.

We can therefore say that people with a strong dependence on technologies and who exert considerable pressure on social networks possess one of the characteristics listed above. Let us remember that social pressure is a learned matter and that the need for permanent contact with others favors a totally subjective perception of intimacy.

It is essential to remember that if someone does not answer us, it does not mean that they do not like us or that they do not want to have relationships with us. An unresponsive person on WhatsApp may be sleeping, watching television, reading a book, eating, breathing or just living.

Maybe he doesn’t feel like answering or doesn’t think it’s necessary. For this reason, we must not be distressed or judge it. The response to a message does not measure our degree of importance to that person. When this happens to you, it is good that you reflect on the fact that others are free people, with their own rights. Each of us can  choose whether or not to be a slave to technology.

We are under no obligation to always be traceable or available to have a conversation. For this reason, we must keep control over our life and not allow social networks  to manage it. If we reflect and set the limits we want, we will be invaded by a wonderful feeling of emotional freedom.