WhatsApp and Co.: Not another voice message!

The bass is booming, the girlfriend sounds happy – whoever plays a voice message is immediately in the middle of the action. Without having to hear many words, it is clear that the party is good. Some love it. According to the company, seven billion voice messages are sent every day with the largest messenger service WhatsApp alone.

Users could use it to “exchange information with each other faster, more easily and on a more personal level”, the group maintains. Nevertheless, there are not only fans.

Voice messages can get annoying

Voice messages via WhatsApp
Bild: picture alliance/dpa | Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

“One can observe in everyday life that many people get very upset when they receive voice messages. With one’s own child, the tolerance limit is perhaps even higher. But everything that goes beyond the narrowest emotional family sphere will eventually become very very annoying,” says digital expert Gerald Lembke. He is a professor of media economics and media management in Mannheim and has also studied voice messages and their use.

“Users say: They like to send voice messages, but they don’t like to listen to them. Why? Recording something, casually, standing at the checkout or sitting in the car, is very easy, but listening to a voice message requires an action,” explains lemke. Because communication with voice messages is asynchronous, i.e. with a time delay: someone picks them up, sends them off, then they are listened to.

Kommunikation as Einbahnstrae

“Voice messages are a one-way street communication,” says Lembke. From a theoretical point of view, this is even a simplification: “You are independent of the recipient’s reaction and that basically makes communication easier at first because it is only in one direction and is not designed for interaction.”

If someone is temporarily unavailable and a matter is not urgent, this type of communication “makes perfect sense,” says Lembke. But: When it comes to agreements with many people, the synchronous phone call is more effective and productive.

“If you want to communicate a date, for example, you shouldn’t embed it in a voice message lasting several minutes, but send it as text, because the recipient can then see it immediately and look it up later,” agrees Dorothea Adler. She conducts research at the Chair of Media Psychology at the University of Würzburg, including on voice messages.

Chatting instead of planning

Some people digress a bit when recording: “Spoken language is less predictable than written language. You can think about what you want to say beforehand, but there is probably a discrepancy between what is planned and what is said,” explains Adler.

“Whereas text allows you to re-read what you’ve written and tweak things to better suit the recipient’s message, spoken language is more likely to make you chatty. I guess that adds some length too. Some people like it when someone starts talking and talks about their thoughts and feelings. While a text message can be personal, it’s arguably a bit more focused and focused.”

Some things are already conveyed by the background. “For example, I can hear when a friend is still at the party and music is playing. This means I can take part much better and perceive the authentic emotions through the language and thus also feel closer to the person,” Adler gives an example. “Not only does she talk more, but maybe she talks a little faster and more melodiously when she’s happy. Of course, this way I can not only hear how the person is doing through the spoken word, but also through the voice and intonation.”

“It’s also about sensitivity”

Laughing, talking faster, whispering, taking a break to think – all of this can convey a message. But: It is important that both sides agree to the voice instead of text messages. “It’s also about sensitivity: If I send someone a voice message and the other person keeps replying to me with text, then I would probably at some point assume that they don’t want to do it and ask or stop sending voice messages,” says Adler. Conversely, as a recipient, you can also say that you prefer to telephone or receive something in writing.

Lembke also advises making a clear decision – “Yes, I want that, or no, I don’t want that. If I say I don’t want voice messages, then I can discuss it with those on the phone who are sending me some. But a lot of people are struggling with this decision.”

WhatsApp reactions have recently been rolled out for all users. You can read more about this in another news item.

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