I leave my read reports on so people can see I've read it. I start feeling the pressure to reply because I'd feel rude if I didn't reply promptly when I know they know I've seen it. DH has his turned off- he replies quickly to me, he says he feels less stressed that way.
I understand people not wanting to be in constant contact but I'll be honest and say I do feel rejected sometimes when I ask family members or friends if they fancy meeting up and they suddenly go dead when we've previously been chatting away. 😂
I don't like group chats apart from using them to arrange meetings. I've seen people get really hurt over no-one replying to an inane meme. They're obviously reaching out to connect but others are muting the group because of it! Maybe me sometimes 
guilty of both sending "hilarious" memes and also muting groups.
I think it makes people far too casual about cancelling on others. It's so easy to send a quick message but would you feel fine with it if you had to phone them?
Seriously thinking of get rid off WhatsApp!