ICONIC’s Whatsapp Rules

Rules of conduct for WhatsApp

In the real world we have many books and articles about how you should act in society and how you can sharpen your conversation skills, still, while most people are aware of them, it seems that they don’t always project them to their online presence as well. Whether it is because of ignorance or inexperience, we decided to offer a helping hand to those users and found solutions to some of the more prominent issues in the most used messaging app nowadays, WhatsApp.

1. Every WhatsApp group has a purpose or a topic of discussion, it is advised you stay within the frames of that topic. Do not confuse personal and work-related matters as it disturbs the overall flow of the conversation.
2. If you are unable to contribute to the conversation at the moment do excuse yourself from the discussion first so the members are not left waiting for a response from your side and use the “mute” function so you don’t receive further notifications.
3. It is impolite to ignore someone when they asked a question or are obviously waiting for a certain reply. Do respond to the respective person before you continue a different topic of discussion.
4. Do not overuse the emojis. They are an easy way to indicate your feelings in a chat but they should be used sparingly as they could become irritating or seem unprofessional. Emoticons should not replace actual words in a conversation.
5. To streamline the user experience for everyone do learn and use the commands and functions of the app, such as muting a conversation, indicating to whom your message is directed at with the “reply” function, customizing your notifications, blocking a user or employing the admin function to choose who can contribute to the chat.
6. Avoid sending multiple short messages in a row, the constant notifications can be an annoyance and you could be monopolizing a chat. It is preferred you structure your spontaneous thoughts in one coherent message.
7. As it should always be known, it is not okay to impose your political or religious beliefs on anybody, in real life as well as in the online world. These matters should only be discussed when all members have an interest in it. In the same manner avoid the use of profanities or inappropriate content.
8. If you created a group with a specific purpose and that purpose has been fulfilled (for example organizing an event) do thank the members and close the group or politely ask the members to leave the chat if it is not serving anyone anymore.
9. If you end up having an active discussion with only one member of the group that is not related to the overall topic of conversation do consider moving that discussion to direct messages so you don’t bother the other members and the chat stays relevant.
10. Don’t add anyone to a group without their approval, they may not be interested. If someone chooses to leave a group after you added them, respect their decision and don’t try to do it again unless they specifically ask you to.
11. If somebody gave you their phone number to contact them make sure to introduce yourself before you start the discussion, and, since they entrusted you with personal information, do respect their privacy and don’t share their phone number with third parties.
12. If a user asks you to not contact them anymore do respect their decision and remove them from your contact list, do not insist as they can always block your number.
13. Remember to stay polite and respectful at all times, this is even more important in a virtual environment as you don’t see the person face to face and you can’t gauge their emotions. Hiding behind a screen doesn’t give you an excuse to act inhumane.