BY COLLEEN GOKO
OPULAR messaging platform WhatsApp has added a new feature to its offerings that allows users to tell if their messages have been read by the intended recipient.
WhatsApp used to confirm the delivery of the message with a grey coloured tick.
ut now, one grey tick indicates that a message has been sent, two grey ticks mean the message has been delivered to the recipient’s phone and two blue ticks mean the recipient has read your message.
In WhatsApp’s updated frequently asked questions section it states: "If you see two blue check marks next to your sent message, then the recipient has read your message. In a group chat or broadcast message, the check marks will turn blue when every participant has read your message."
Previously, users could only guess if and when their messages had been read using the "last seen" feature. WhatsApp allowed users to opt out of that particular functionality if they were unwilling to share their last seen status.
It proved popular with users who did not want the pressure of replying immediately or having other users know when last they were online.
Not everyone is pleased with the new update. Some commentators have called it "sneaky".
"Part of the appeal was being able to hide from select individuals when I wanted to," said WhatsApp user Larissa Pringiers.
"I hope a future update will allow me to opt out when I want to, otherwise I’m afraid it might be curtains for some of my relationships," she said.
A study done by CyberPsychology — a web-based, peer-reviewed scholarly journal — concluded that 28-million couples break up because of WhatsApp and Facebook.
The result was attributed to the "double check syndrome", where people believed that the double checks meant the recipient had read the message, inciting feelings of jealousy, anxiety and suspicion.
Techies have long suspected that this update was in the works from the Facebook-owned app. Facebook uses this feature in Facebook messenger.
Other messaging platforms, such as BBM, also have the read-receipt functionality.
Research conducted by World Wide Worx and Fuseware in February into the use of social media and instant messaging on cellphones in SA, showed that the instant messaging app was used by at least 10.6-million South African adults.
The survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of adult cellphone users living in cities and towns. The sample frame represented about 20-million adults.
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