To hate WhatsApp voice notes?

[MattCauthon]

I don't mind a quick one because someone is running to meet you and wants to let you know they are on the way or whatever. But the 2-10 minute ones from SIL drive me mad. Long ramble ones. Either call me to discuss or summarise in a quick text. I am lucky that she is the only one. Dh has a couple.of colleagues who do it on their team whatsapp for scheduling and if drives him.mad too.

It's just so entitled. Like I have 4 minutes to listen to it all?! Argh!!! (And yes, I concede that this is probably aggravated by ongoing issues of SIL being kind and generous on one hand but hugely self absorbed and selfish on the other (kind and generous... on her terms!)

I don't listen to them generally. I assume if it's something important they'll follow up, otherwise I've not missed much 😆 They're convenient for the sender not recipient imo.

In general I hate them and they smack of "my time and convenience is more important than yours." With a text I can glance at it while in a meeting/while at lunch/on the train/while listening to something else/spending time with my family. A voice note almost always requires me to stop doing something else.

I've got one friend who's the exception but that's because we have a clear agreement between us on what voice notes are for - they are basically mini podcasts on areas of mutual professional interest to be listened to at leisure - sharing an interest thing we saw/learned/thought about that we know the other will want to hear.

Despise them! Rude and entitled IMO. my friend sends me them quite often, I don't listen to them. She knows I don't, but she feels better for getting whatever it is off her chest even if I don't listen. Huh.

I’m same as you, I like them for a quick message or a funny quick reply to something, funny sound etc. But actually talking for ages.. no

If you want to talk to me, ring me.

I hate voice notes with a passion.

If you need to send me a short message, that your on your way or something quick, that's fair enough... anything more and it could be days before I'll listen to it

I don't love them but also don't understand this whole idea that it's entitled. These people are supposed to be your friends/family, yet you can't spare 4 minutes for them? That's 0.27% of your day.

I like them. Nice to hear a human voice and quicker than typing

God yes. My sister will send me a long rambling message when a simple ok would suffice. If you want a nice chat, just ring me ffs.

I don’t have a problem with this because I find it rude when people are in a room together and some people are on their phones, I always put my phone away when I’m in company (and when I’m at work).

I don't mind them as I can speed them up, put the phone down and just get on with other stuff while listening to them.
With regards sending them I have a limited group of people I send them to but we all send them to each other, usually because it will take too long to type everything and we never speak on the phone old school.

YANBU. I only tolerate them from DSD because she's heavily pregnant and has a toddler. Everyone else, I refuse to listen to them. If it's important, they'll ring me.

So much slower than reading though. I guess it depends on whose time you're prioritising.

I do exactly this also. Hate the entitlement and self obsession. A pp has said that she uses them when she “ wants to get her thoughts out”. Well don’t do that on my time thanks! Pay a therapist.

Yanbu. Hate them. I've never sent one.
My sister has sent me a couple and I find them so time consuming and hard to focus on. Just type it FGS. At least I can check back if it's in text. A voice mail is instantly forgettable.

And also - if you prefer talking to typing then just ring me! Unless of course you just want your voice listened to and not have a 2 way conversation

I don’t understand the “my time and convenience is more important than yours” thing at all! It’s not like a phone call which is obviously an immediate thing ( I love getting phone calls too, but that’s besides the point) the advantage of a voicenote is that you can listen at a time and place of your own convenience!
Most voicenotes are only a couple of minutes, presumably from people you know and like? Is that so very offensive? How thrilling your life must be to begrudge 4 minutes of it listening to the voice of a friend!

Anyone who leaves a voice note of more than about 45 seconds is a total narcissist who you should be wary of

My friends know I don’t listen to them. I can read faster than I can listen and find it such an imposition to have to listen to them.

Nope i love them 🤷‍♀️

I’m not offended by them & it’s nice to hear friends voices… but I literally don’t have the time for them!! I’m on mat leave and breastfeeding is my window for catching up with texts, but if I play sound it wakes/distracts my baby, so I have to skip them and remember to come back to them, turning them into yet-another-task. I also don’t like being stuck to my phone when my toddler is around. So no, they’re really unhelpful!

Seems to be how ds (13) and his pals communicate - really long voice notes!
if I suggest to him that he just calls them instead he looks at me as if I have horns growing out of my head

depressingly, dBiL thinks that his DD’s generation (she is 20) don’t actually know how to hold a conversation on the phone.

sometimes a voice note is helpful but I can’t abide it when its literally four words long

I love a voicenote!!

Me and friends send half hour ones 😂

Deleted un-listened to I'm afraid along with voicemails.

It's rarely convenient for me to listen anyway. I would rather scan a written message quickly which I can do there and then. If I can't it may be days before I remember its existence.

I hate them...

It's so much easier to read a messsge discretely in company, in work, a waiting room etc.

People can send me a voice note if they want but they might as well not have as I won't listen to them for ages.

Same as all communication, for bsst results deliver the message in a form that suits the receiver best.

Oh no, let's not bandy around the tedious "offensive" when people have expressed irritation. I'm not offended when I receive a voice note, I'm mildly annoyed (and the cumulative annoyance builds over time.)

Receiving a text is a lot more convenient than receiving a voice note. It's way faster to read that amount of text than to listen to the words. You can access them at a time and place that's convient to you, rather than waiting for a time when listening wouldn't be inappropriate, antisocial or require interrupting something else you're doing. You can reply as swiftly as you like and know that the thing has been sorted rather than adding to the list of Stuff I Must Do Later.

And you don't get the followup "hey did you receive my voice note" when you haven't responded in a time frame deemed acceptable to the sender.

I'd rather be able to read what a friend has said during my commute or between meetings or whatever and reply in a timely way, rather than squeezing it in when I've just got into the house or just before bed or whatever. I find being able to read and reply in real time is more akin to a proper conversation and social interaction than having someone talking at me. In the same way, I'd prefer a proper phone call to a voice note.

I get that other people like them. I don't, because they are less convenient and more time-consuming.