Friend keeps sending long voice notes instead of messages

[GirouxSein]

A friend has started sending voice notes for everything. Some of them are 5 minutes long and I often can’t listen straight away. It then feels rude when I reply hours later.
I know it’s probably meant to be more personal, but I find it a bit overwhelming and honestly prefer a normal message I can skim when I’m busy.

You're not unreasonable at all.
Tell her
No voice notes please. Messages or calls only.
Leave it there.
This pisses me off too.
You can dictate your voice to your phone and it types it for you if you are too lazy to use your hands.

Are voice notes the same as voicemail? I have voice mail turned off on my phone.

Just move with the times will you. If my 90 year old granny can deal with it, I’m sure you’re capable of coping with a voicenote every now and again without needing a Valium.

Yes they’re basically the same thing, except it’s stored/sent in WhatsApp instead of your voicemail.

Weird the way this has moved onto coping and valium when you can't refute the point about MN and text messaging actually being really similar...

Not if you have a Glaswegian accent you can't 😂transcriptions are hilariously random for me, even if I put on my best posh voice. Teams once quoted me as having said I was 'bringing home the bacon' in a meeting...no idea what I actually said but it wasn't that! 🙈

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA brilliant

Oh 😀 nothing to do with Voice notes. I am Scottish, not glaswegian anyway the voice recognition at my bank didn't recognise what I was saying it was so frustrating !

YES!! Even Bank of Bloody Scotland?! 😩
See also - voice command function in cars/TV remote etc haha

HA ! it was the RBS who's call centre is in Kilmarnock. I gave up on my skyq remote.

Have now experimented thanks to @Lifeislove advice /works really well, and passed on to friends - thx!!

Hardly "moving with the times". It's no different to answering machines or voice mail, both of which were around a long time ago.

What’s the issue then?

I think if someone likes getting voice notes, they can't fathom that others don't.

It's like you're listening to your friend's mini podcast! I wouldn't want this either. Tell her to call or text.

I know some people who like them - very extroverted, chatty types who love small talk and diving into detail about their everyday lives/gossip etc. My mum tried to send me a few and I just told her to call me instead.

Luckily most of my friends and family prefer text.

The few times I've received a voice note I've absolutely hated the inconvenience of having to find a quiet place to listen to it/reminding myself to listen to it as I couldn't do it ASAP, then having to memorise everything they rambled on about, and then having to compose a reply that addressed everything they said and was suitably additive to the conversation.

I think it's a similar exercise to writing letters, except much more inconvenient for the recipient as you're expected to reply sooner, and it isn't edited so tends to be a lot more rambly.

Exactly this, they are far more disruptive than text messages that can be read anywhere (apart from when driving).

And now thanks to this thread I understand what it is people on public transport are doing when they talk endlessly into their phone without ever pausing, I always imagined someone at the other end not being able to get a word in edgeways, now I understand there's no one there and they are just dumping their thoughts onto a VN.

Voicemail is totally different to a silly voice note

Voicemail is "hi Mrs Wonderful, this is Ann from the Ford Garage. Just to let you know your car is ready to pick up. We're on 01234 987664".

Voicenote is "hiiiiii, um, I was thinking about doing a special tea for Luisa next month..... <<rustle>>..don't know if you think that's a good idea. I've seen a great cake from Maggies Bakery which we could maybe order, what do you think?....... do you know who else might be free. Not sure whether to do a Friday or Saturday..... or maybe a Sunday? " . And so it goes on and on, but I stopped listening as it could have been an easily digestible written message.

You used to get spectacularly good voicemails.

Our family answering machine was stuffed full of the latter variety.

My 15 yr old sends them too, she gets annoyed if I don't listen in work, I keep saying send a message I can't put you on loud speaker for the office to hear, I've no idea what's going to be played out loud, usually a rant, swearing, waffling how she hates a teacher etc 🤣

I have a good friend who does this. I got so annoyed with it a while back and messaged him to say write the logistics down in text or I won't be doing what you want me to do as I needed it visually to put it in my calendar etc.

Guys!! You can just listen to it like a phone call - No need to listen out loud 🤦🏼‍♀️

Actually I don't mind them at all. I sadly lost a very dear friend so hearing her voice is comforting. When she was ill and not up to talking she appreciated my voice messages to listen to when she could.

I can imagine it can be annoying but personally I wouldn't be bothered about putting on loudspeaker while doing something.

DC, nieces and nephews seem to prefer sending voice messages, I find it quite sweet and funny! Xxx

thank you, I don't have a wifi smartphone or whatsapp so I won't get them yippee!