There are too many messaging services

Last month, I decided to join one of those ’30 day’ challenges. To my absolute surprise, I got the onboarding email and it told me to download Telegram. 

I rolled my eyes hard.

It’s not that it’s about the app but it’s rather yet another app. Another messaging option. 

Let me lay this out. 

1. Email - Google

2. Facebook - messenger for people who don’t have my phone number

3. WhatsApp - messages with my family and one friend

4. Texting - texts with my spouse, one on one with dad, and most people who have my number (besties, mentees, etc). 

5. Slack - contract work with a tech company

6. Google Spaces (basically just chat groups with my employees and one client)

Not to mention all the DM options on all the other social sites. 

There’s already so much task switching in a day that takes up valuable productivity time. I get that we need different ways to communicate easily.... But my question is: how much is too much? I know there are more messaging options out there; I know of the ones that burn the message upon reading, the passive-aggressive sites like whisper, and of course telegram. There are apps that are controlled by governments (yikes) that have been banned by the five eyes alliance (which we really should pay more attention to). 

I’m forever trying to keep it straight and how to text who and when. Why do I text my dad normally but my mom on WhatsApp? Why does my spouse only text but doesn’t really use WhatsApp? 

And why are we still using Slack like it’s a productivity helper when it’s very much not. 

The true fact of the issue with these 30-day challenges is that they could have easily made a group chat on Instagram or Facebook or even WhatsApp and achieved the same thing. So why make us all download a rather sketchy (and odd reputation) app to enroll?

Ultimately, this is just my opinion and it’s easy for me to sit here and complain about all the options while I write a blog on my Squarespace website that I originally drafted in my notes app from my iPhone and then went to my laptop to finish it up.

Perhaps task switching and switching between apps for messages and emails is the way of the future and I’m just stuck in my 6 option rut.