A.R.Ts (125) - Has the Blue Tick ticked you off?

Dear Whatssap User,

I know you hated me since the day you first saw me. There I was, blue in colour, appearing in all your messages, stripping you bare naked. With nowhere to run for cover, you stood exposed. You could no longer seek refuge under the "I saw your message very late" response.

Let me take you to a decade back when my more non intrusive counterparts ruled your life. You sent a message and went on with life. Irrespective of whether the message was sent, delivered, read, baked, roasted, or fried. If you wanted an urgent response, you would call. Occasionally, if you didn't get a response, you would wonder if the message got delivered in time. The possibility that your messages would not always be responded to in time, or even eventually, did not destabilise your life. And likewise for you as a recipient. You did not have to make assumptions about your relationships based on the various permutations combinations of "Sent but not delivered - must be in a no-signal area" "Received but not read - too busy". "Read but not responded within 30 seconds - I'm not a priority. "Read but not responded for two hours - Does not like me much". "Read but not responded for a day - Time to strike off the friends list".

Then what happened? A revolution led by a hooded teen prodigy decided that privacy is a thing of the past. Connectedness is in. Why wonder where your friends are and what they are up to when you can find out at the click of a button? And predictably, you didn't fight that too hard. In fact you were very easily wooed. You enjoyed the reach and access it gave you. You spent hours evaluating every picture of yours on a DP worthiness scale. You liked seeing the lighter (or darker) side of people .. in their pictures, their updates. You tracked their lives. You knew when they were online. You could even see them typing out your messages. You knew when was the last time they had checked their messages. Willy nilly you were lending yourself to a form of voyeurism, you of their lives, they of your life. And slowly you became a slave. A mild anxiety would come creeping over you when someone you saw online didn't respond to you. Likewise, that ever so subtle pressure to respond lest someone label you as indifferent or aloof. Never before had a simple text so much power to judge the depth of a relationship. Hot. Cold. Mild. Intense. Lukewarm. Icy. Intimate. Distant.

Then comes along me. Making all your labels official. Giving you less room to play around. Validating your faith, confirming your fears. Violating a space which you gave up long back. Making you a stranger to your own choices. Seemingly disrobing you when the fact is that you have left very little to cover. A nice easy target of outrage.

Stop spewing venom on me dear Whatssap User. I am not the problem. I am just the umpire keeping score. The problem is the slippery playground you play in. The playground of fragile relationships, instant gratification, real time access, diffused boundaries and blurring lines of personal space. And the reality is that it's too late to fix that now. Remember, if you want to walk in the rain, you have to enjoy getting wet. Otherwise pull down the windows and stay indoors.

Sincerely yours,

The By Now Iconic Blue Tick.