A notification sounds and, on the other side of the Whatsapp, a terse "Hello" indicates the start of a conversation of unknown content yet. Seconds pass, even minutes, and the interlocutor does not seem to be encouraged to continue. One does not know what to do in the meantime, because if he was at that moment battering croquettes and has washed his hands to avoid dirtying the phone, the polite thing to do out of deference to the person who initiated the conversation is to wait until he finishes addressing you to answer as soon as possible. Finally, after several "typing" alerts from the application, and when you were about to impatiently put your hands back in the breadcrumbs, finally, the following message: "How are you?
I don't have to count to the end for all of us to recognize ourselves in a similar story in which we have been made to waste our time in an unjustified and maddening way. Maybe the problem is mine for wanting to answer everything in the shortest possible time. The truth is that I admire those who are able to take hours and even days to answer a Whatsapp message and do it after a while without batting an eyelid, as if you had just sent it to them. They must have a lot of patience! (oops, sorry, I said that out loud).
I recognize that the same haste that moves me to speak and respond quickly so as not to waste people's time, sometimes leads me to the other extreme, that of skipping the most basic rules of civility. More than once a friend has practiced fraternal correction with me by responding with an elegant and discreet initial "Good morning" to the cold message without greeting that I sent him first thing in the morning.
As we see, the new ways of communicating involve new sins, new ways of failing in charity, so I have been encouraged to leave in writing some commandments of Whatsapp that perhaps can also serve you by completing it with your own purposes:
1. Treat the other as a person. Our interlocutor is not a robot, he or she is a son or daughter of God who has dignity. Understanding the informal context of the application by its own idiosyncrasy, let us respect the forms, the manners. Let us be courteous and kind, let us make the other feel at ease in the conversation, let us practice mercy.
2. Respect other people's time. Include the vocative or greeting in the same message avoiding short spaced wasps. Let's use voice messages sparingly. Let's not put our laziness to write on the shoulders of others. In large groups, let's not abuse the interventions or monopolize the chat.
3. You will not invade privacy. Let's not include anyone who has not asked for it in groups or lists without justification. To share something that catches our attention, let's use statuses or open an account on a social network. This way, only those who have the time and feel like it will see it, without harassing those who may not be interested at the time.
4. You will chat with truth. Whatsapp chains reach us through someone we know, but their origin is usually obscure and they seek to manipulate public opinion by appealing to our emotions, not reason. We should not forward news that is not backed up by serious media. It is possible to sin against the eighth commandment without having lied, only by forwarding a lie. Gossip and hoaxes, out.
5. You will show your face. Unless we have a problem that demands privacy, our profile picture should correspond to our identity. The one we took at that wedding in '97 or the one of our grandchildren are for show, sure, but they do not represent us and make it difficult for those who talk to us to recognize us among their contacts.
6. Promote communion. We Christians are called to be, as in the prayer of St. Francis, "instruments of your peace". Faced with the typical misunderstandings of written language or a heated discussion in a group, it is up to us to act as a bridge for understanding. In a climate of social tension such as the present one, the calls to communion are a living Gospel.
7. You will wait patiently for your interlocutor's response.. We live in a fast-paced world and Whatsapp is a child of this circumstance. When they take a long time to answer us, we must think that the other person has to rest, be with his family, attend to his obligations or simply does not feel like being online. Let's be patient.
8. You will rest from your cell phone. It is the first-person version of the previous commandment. Digital disconnection is health for the body and for the soul. The virtue of temperance will help us to leave space for what is important. It is urgent to leave the cell phone in the drawer to enjoy our family or devote more time to prayer or to do nothing.
9. You will practice digital solidarity. Whatsapp can be an excellent tool to practice charity. Using it to encourage someone who is going through a bad time, to take an interest in the sick, to say hello from time to time to someone we know is lonely, to promote solidarity initiatives or to listen with affection to someone who needs to let off steam are new works of digital mercy.
10. You will share the faith. If the Gospel is the cause of our joy, it is logical that we want to transmit it. Let us do so with wisdom and prudence, without proselytizing, knowing that more than with words, we evangelize with a way of being and acting. That is why this last commandment is the summary of all the others: may our Whatsapp always be good news!
Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.
