To think voice clips should be banned?

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I'm not talking about voicemail. I have nothing against a short message to say that you tried to call, give details on when would be good to call back, etc etc.

I'm talking about the voice clips you can record on Whatsapp, messenger and so on. Maybe it's just my circle, but some of my friends will leave about 10x1 minute voice clips. In order to listen to them, I need to have a quiet, private space, time to listen to them all, and some way to note down everything they've said because by the time I've got to the last one I can't remember what was said in the earlier ones. With a text, you can just read back to make sure you've replied to everything they've said. If you need to reply a little later, you have to relisten to the whole thing again. Voice clips only benefit the sender, not the receiver.

They were a good idea to try out, but now we've seen how insanely annoying they are, it's time for them to be treated as a failed experiment.

My son and his wife met on a dating site. English isn't her first language and she was more confident speaking than writing. She left a voice message and that was it for him - he completely fell for her when he heard her voice.

I know what you mean though, OP. In the situation you describe texts would be much better.

They’re so bloody self indulgent. Can’t stand them

God I hate them. I never have the sound on on my phone unless playing something something DS. I watch all videos on silent so skip if they don't have subtitles, subtitles on netflix, I don't see the point for people who can read and write tbh. You can dictate text. I don't hear very well. I'd much rather communicate via text and email.

They are an extremely useful tool for people with SEN who cannot spell or read well. And before you suggest voice typing, that doesn't work when someone has a speech delay. YABU.

They are very useful for people with various disabilities.

Chrissakes, why can’t people just pick up the fucking phone 🙄

there’s something so self centred about leaving a massive long monologue - I bet listen to them

and yes I don’t include people with accessibility issues blah blah

I agree it's more of a foreign thing. I used to have a French flatmate that would constantly be sending voice notes to her friends, then playing back her friends reply. Back and forth. For hours. I just kept thinking why not call each other or text?! I must be old fashioned!

This is so funny. I never considered people using them as described on the thread. My sister and I use them for short anecdotes where it works better than writing (for example, she can imitate her cat really well), but not for anything important. I can’t imagine getting them from colleagues🤣🤣🤣

I hate them, don't bother to listen. A particular friend kept sending longer and longer ones, until i told him that I don't like listening to podcasts, if he wants a conversation he can call me and then I'll have the chance to contribute to it too.

I have a close family member leaves me voice message after voice message just like an outpouring of internal dialogue. Often 3min long ones. Many in a row. It makes me weep. A very strange thing to try to respond to when someone has just talked at you for 10 minutes over several messages. YANBU

They are despicable. (For those who use them without good reason.)

I detest people who think this is an appropriate way to communicate. I have a really annoying colleague that does it. She's recently started and leaves long, rambling voice notes about what she thinks we should do. I haven't listened to one yet. Its so rude. It's basically saying 'my time is more important than yours' because I think it's acceptable to send a long monologue to you which could be (and I'm sure was) a load of bollocks but I expect you to waste 10 minutes of your life listening to it, even though I know you're busy, before you get the chance to reply and say no, that's wrong.

I wouldn't mind a quick, I can't type now, driving, can you send me that spreadsheet, thanks! But they're all 10 minutes plus long!

Is it a millennial/gen Xthing? I don't know anyone out of their thirties that does it.

Why are you texting someone your minutiae for an important arrangement?

Do you need to know about each breath they take on the bus? Presumably, you show up once or twice, and if they keep letting you down, you stop making arrangements?

You can rule out the 'SO SELFISH' people, by not having a little temper tantrum, and deciding that people who let you down aren't people you want to continue meeting. Otherwise you'll be putting yourself through hell with these people?

Totally agree! And they’ll always say “just thought it would be easier to send a voice vote” - easier for you maybe!! The time the sender saves is in exact proportion to the time the receiver then needs to waste.

Aaaargh yes totally agree dreadful things. To me it's as if the person sending them views their own time as more important than mine.

In saying that in Spain OP they are the go to, everyone uses them constantly.

I don’t get many but don’t listen to the ones I do.

Wow, I didn't realise there was so much negative feeling about these!

I think they're kind of nice, I enjoy hearing people's voices rather than just reading the message, it gives a sense of connection.

I don't get them often though and they are never more than a couple of minutes. Can see why being bombarded with them would be annoying, especially if they're about important arrangements.

It all depends how people use them.

I did not know this! Great idea!

This isn't voicenote as such, but I find it equally annoying! I have a friend who was constantly harping on wanting to do a video call with me about his dramatic love life. I kept saying no, I hate video calls, I'm trying to work, send me a message and I'll read and reply after work - so he sent a 20 minute video of himself doing a terrible monologue about his partner and has done this a few times now. I always have to find time,peace and quiet and somewhere private to listen, then try to remember to cover all their long video messages!

Yes yabu. And wtf is this need for people to say “AIBU to think xxx should be banned?” Banned? Seriously? “AIBU to hate voice clips” fair enough, but “banned?” Get over yourself. And that applies to any AIBU post which contains the word banned which is being used totally out of context.

There is surely middle ground. No you don’t have to send or receive them from work colleagues, but tbh all you need to do is put in a pair of AirPods (most people seem to wear them all the time anyway) and you can listen, and sending one to a friend or maybe family member.

I certainly wouldn’t join a group where voice messaging is the norm, but I have friends I regularly communicate with in voice clips, friends I haven’t seen for years and who it’s nice to talk to but we don’t always have the time for phone calls as we live in different time zones.

If you personally don’t like them then fine. But it’s your own personal preference.

😂 I absolutely love sending voice notes and receiving them, think the longest I sent was 8 minutes 😂
Just use headphones if you're on a bus, public space 🤷‍♂️

Banned? Maybe just say to your friends, hey would you mind texting me?

I’m self conscious of my voice so don’t send many but I love the ones I get. I think the issue is probably more with how you feel about the sender than anything else. My WhatsApp is littered with little snippets of the voices of my favorite people from my nephews singing happy birthday to my partner saying goodnight - what’s not to love? There are people who are no longer around that I can still hear and listen to when I feel down… though my absolute fave is the 30 second clip where my friend was telling me she was running late and then a seagull flew into her car 🤣

Don't ban them of course, but having listened to a woman record her inane self-obsessed nonsense great thoughts to a friend clip by clip through a long train journey, I just thought she must be the most annoying friend possible.