To think WhatsApp group members should acknowledge message

[Salahdor]

I’m a member of several WhatsApp groups, eg family members group, work team group, street group. The biggest group has 20 members, the smallest has 5. Am I wrong to expect WhatsApp group members to acknowledge posts?

At times I post something and no one replies/acknowledges despite me knowing they’ve seen. Sometimes the messages I post are a “does anyone want this for free” offer. Am I being unreasonable in thinking other group members should acknowledge/reply to these. Even when I’m busy I’ll acknowledge even if by posting an emoji where appropriate . For the bigger group of neighbours I don’t always reply but if someone was offering to give something for example that’s relevant to me (eg unwanted dog food when we have a dog) id acknowledge their offer even to say no but thanks.

Am I unreasonable to expect a reply (and to find not replying rude?)

Ok thanks everyone for your feedback.

God no. Drives me mental when my phone is constantly buzzing with people sending unnecessary messages.

YABU.

I find it more annoying when someone asks a question and you then get loads of notifications saying "no".

Ha, you would hate me then. I check WhatsApp about once a week.

I mute most WhatsApp groups and check them every couple of days.

I think on groups of people don't respond then the answer is no. I wouldn't expect a dozen no thank you messages!

YABVU nobody owes you their time or a conversation

I need to reply in support of OP
In my experience and personality, a WhatsApp group maybe isn't for you. I have BPD, and risking the flame throwers of MN, one of the main triggers for me is a group where I feel "left out" or not acknowledged. It's paranoia at its worst. However, this may not be how you feel and you may be referring to manners OP in which case, with any message groups YABU due to notifications overload, maybe reword your post to add contact me if interested.

Hope this helps

Are you by any chance mixing business with pleasure / leisure in your posts to these people?

I have a friend who has a work Whataspp group and they get very annoyed with the others posting personal stuff (like your examples of giving things away) like their dinners or stuff like that!

No you don't deserve a reply. No one is obliged to respond.

People have lives that do not revolve around their phones or Whatsapp believe it or not.

Wow, I’m shocked by the vote tbh OP.

I’m with you, a polite no thanks or no sorry I can’t etc really doesn’t hurt anyone.

@SweetBabyCheeses99

YABU. The thing about replying in a group is that all goes to all members!!! Why on earth do you think that all 5-20 people in a group would want a further 4-19 messages from everyone else Who even has time for that?! All that will happen is people will start to mute the chat and the group will die out. If you want an individual acknowledgment then you need to send individual messages to people.

This. Who wants umpteen notifications about something they've already said no to?

YABU, in general. It's a pain for everyone else to read the responses if they're essentially saying nothing. If there was an easy way to just reply to the sender, like there is with email, that would be a bit different I suppose.

And this is why I don’t WhatsApp, Facebook, have taken email off my phone and am downgrading to a dumb phone like a properly old person.

Mobile communication has led people to become unreasonably demanding. Back in the day (ie the 90s) you were lucky to get a response the same day. You telephoned people at home and if they were out, that was it, tough luck.

Now it is: “I want to talk to you now. You have a mobile with you. I know you’ve seen my message. You are slighting me because you didn’t immediately give me the validation I’m demanding…”

It’s all too tiresome. Honestly, OP, if a group on WhatsApp is annoying then maybe it’s worth considering leaving WhatsApp. Life is simply too short for those thoughts.

No response IS your response 🤷🏻‍♀️ If you’ve not asked a question and don’t get a response to just a random message then I’d say it’s possibly just not of interest to people in the group or they have other stuff going on and aren’t prioritising chatting with you, which is okay. You sound really needy.

@Teenagers2grownups0

Wow, I’m shocked by the vote tbh OP.

I’m with you, a polite no thanks or no sorry I can’t etc really doesn’t hurt anyone.

This applies if you're having a private conversation, not in a large group.

Saying no thank you to posts like these is like the people who respond to Amazon asking them a question about a product they've bought by saying "Sorry, I don't know."! If you don't know, don't answer!!

We have a Whatsapp group for our street and people do this. "Anyone had a parcel delivered for Smith"? or "Anyone seen our missing cat?" Then about 6 people respond to say no they haven't. FFS. If you can't help just stay quiet.

Why on earth do you want your phone to be pinging away unnecessarily?

And who the fuck do people think they are putting demands on others like this?

Good lord no. If everyone responded to every message in a group then my phone would never stop! I offered some furniture for free recently in our street WhatsApp. No one replied. I assume no one wants it. No response is a response.

Just to clarify - I didn’t word original message well - the small work group isn’t for work issues, it’s a social group consisting of my work team. As I said, sometimes there is no reply to my messages (from anyone). I would reply to others messages, and especially when I can see no one else has.

Overwhelming though the feedback is that my expectations are unreasonable so I’ll take that on board and manage them in future.

No I hate unnecessary messages - it clogs up my phone with notifications and actual messages which need reading get lost in a sea of drivel. I end up muting groups which are the worst for this.

Whatsapp is a pain. Why do I need continous notifications on innane chatter, or acknowledgments. Its insane.

So YABU sorry OP

Yabu
I really hate the group chat messages of "anyone want these??" followed by a photo of crap they cba to take to the charity shop. I'm not responding. I don't want any more shite in my house.

If someone asked me if I wanted something for free in WhatsApp that I don't want, I wouldn't reply. Equally if I posted and no one wanted I would take a no reply as no thanks.

No way from me!
The dc have Whatsapp groups that do that and their phone will be buzzing merrily only to find one person asked if there was homework and 25 people respond with "no", and then one says "didn't he say to read chapter 2" and then 25 responses of "kk".... followed by 26 "see u 2mrrw"

Even in our family group some posts/photos get no response. That's fine, none of us are bothered, everyone's busy doing their own stuff. It's no reflection on the person who sent the message.

God no. I'd say the opposite. We have a street WhatsApp which dates back to the first lockdown. It drives me mad because someone will say "Does anyone have a parcel for Jones?" And then give or six people will reply to say they don't. Surely with this kind of thing it's only necessary to respond if you actually do have it???

This! I am (by necessity) on over 20 very active WA groups, including a couple of 100+ ones. You really don’t want everyone and their granny replying to each message. It’s different in a group of 3-4 friends, say, but even then some groups are chattier and others are more functional.