Various funny images of a pair of blue ticks are circulating on the internet! These ticks are quite special. The users of WhatsApp enjoy a lot when a black tick turns into a couple of blue ticks! In fact, they eagerly wait for this to happen. One such user recently said: “A number of relationships break during this span of time, although the rigid binary world has no information about it. If the black tick of WhatsApp turns blue, then one realises that everything is fine.” Else, it is better to maintain a distance.

WhatsApp came into existence in 2009, and arrived in India in 2010. As per latest statistics, the number of WhatsApp-users has already crossed two billion. In other words, one out of every four people is connected to WhatsApp, globally. One spends 38 minutes per day on this platform on an average. Statistics have further revealed that 1.6 million messages are being circulated every second through WhatsApp! One’s love, pain, emotion… everything is hidden in those messages.

The majority of WhatsApp-users want prompt replies, as they do not like to wait long for replies after sending a message through this particular medium. The black tick might have turned blue immediately after the message was sent. Sometimes, the black tick takes a long time to turn blue! Often, the sender has to wait 48 hours for a reply! The sender has no idea why it takes so long to change the colour. It may be noted that Meta Platforms Inc. (commonly known as Facebook) introduced the blue ticks a decade ago… on November 5, 2014. Psychologists are of the opinion that the blue ticks not only give relief to WhatsApp-users, but also increase their anxiety. Hence, they use the term Blue Tick Anxiety.

There is an excitement hidden in every WhatsApp message. The act of sending messages does not satisfy senders as they wait for blue ticks or the automatic acknowledgment of receipt. Curiosity continues to grow until they receive a reply. According to psychologists, various questions arise in one’s mind if it takes a long time for the black tick to turn blue. Black tick so far, although the receiver is still online… Typing is shown in green colour below the name, but I am yet to receive the reply… The last scene is shown long after I sent the message… Then why aren’t my messages turned blue? Perhaps, s/he is ignoring me. Hence, s/he does not want to see my message…

It seems that the blue ticks are the ultimate determinant of a person’s acceptance, social respect and importance in the 21st Century world! It is because one lives more on social media than in public. Hence, the black tick not turning blue means the receiver is ignoring the sender! And then, a sense of inferiority damages one’s very existence. This is how the Blue Tick Anxiety takes over human minds.

Many have started following the opposite way, lately. They are raising their voice against the culture of instant reaction. A number of people have already disabled the blue double ticks option of WhatsApp. If one turns off this option, the blue ticks shall disappear from her/his cell phone screen. This move has two apparent benefits… There will be no way for the sender to know whether the recipient of a message has read it and vice versa. Ultimately, it leads to a relief from anxiety.

A private sector employee in India recently lost his job just because he could not reply to a WhatsApp message received from his higher authority! The message arrived at midnight, demanding a report. The employee saw the message with sleepy eyes, and fell asleep again! Next day, he was told: “When you see the message, why do not reply? If you were in no mood to reply, then why did you check the message? Are you playing with the blue ticks?“

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das