When I moved to the Netherlands from Sydney two years ago, I was astonished by the prevalence of WhatsApp here. I honestly think it would be hard to function in this country without it. I am in WhatsApp groups for family and various permutations of family; for the street block where we live, where discussions range from local council issues, social events, does-anyone-have-a-shovel-I-could-borrow, and informal neighbourhood watch; for my Dutch classes; and use it to communicate with all my friends and family here, along with businesses, shops and tradies. The verb "to app" is part of the vernacular--"Ik zal je appen" ("I will app you") means I'll send you a message on WhatsApp.
I suspect that one of the reasons it's so embraced here is that EU privacy laws are so strict that people are less reticent to hand out their mobile numbers. It's just safer. Any person or business found breaching the rules, passing on a phone number without permission, or selling it to spammers, would suffer the merciless wrath of the bureaucracy. Plus, of course, there is the encryption, something that the Dutch, who guard their privacy, very much value.
And, of course, it's a joy to use when travelling and to keep in touch with friends in Australia!
That's so interesting Margaret... I love that there's a verb for it!! Do you manage all the notifications without them adding extra stress to your life? I find them so difficult and I'm not even a prolific user! (And ... how are you enjoying the Netherlands and will you ever come back to Australia!?)
I think the trick with the notifications is just not to respond till you're ready! The preview function is useful, because normally you can tell if it's urgent. Then if you leave it to come back to later, it's not marked as read, so you don't look like you're being rude.
Very happy with our move across the planet. It's a permanent thing--my husband and daughter both have Dutch citizenship, and I'm learning Dutch so I can too. (Lots of study and exams to take--if you come from outside the EU, you need a certain degree of proficiency to maintain your visa and get citizenship.) I will definitely be back to visit, but this is home now. I'm hoping my next novel will be published there, so I'll be back for the publicity tour, if things pan out.
Congratulations on the TV adaptation of Fake! I don't think there's any way to see it here, alas. It's come a long way from back when we were sending each other panicky messages about Lex's move!
What a great, newsy newsletter this week. Thank you, Stephanie.
The a capella group sounds a tonic. The community choir I'm in has WhatsApp groups for each voice part, then adds extra groups for any event taking place. Nothing has changed about the choir's organisation, but the WhatsApp groups have definitely improved the comms and the sense of camaraderie.
It's funny, very useful, but also very "noisy". I don't enable pings on my phone. Silent only. I can't mute the chat entirely, no matter how busy it gets, as I'm an admin!
I hope you don't mind Wendy but I've just shared your community choir's WhatsApp habit with my a capella group ... amazing that you have a WhatsApp group for EVERY PART!!! Yes, I find the pings so terribly difficult ... they add so much stress to my day and I'm constantly muting them.
Of course, Stephanie, glad to share! Our choir has over 100 members, so a whole choir WhatsApp would be manic! I think we’ve got about 15 Sop 2s. There’s also a WhatsApp at the mo for those of us going on choir tour (60 of us) and everyone’s so hyped there has to be yet another group for essential on-topic messages. Thank God I’m not admin for that one! Our choir secretaries are total saints.
I’m not part of a WhatsApp gang but have been wanting to join a local (Inner West Sydney) singing group after my Melbourne mate joined one and is loving it. Note I am not a singer but have been to Pub Choir a couple of times (and have tickets for the next Sydney gig!) and absolutely loved it. I have yet to find ‘my gang’ besides sisters and friends who live too far away. Hard to make new friends in your fifties, would love to be able to just simply meet up for a drink with a gang of fellow reprobates 🤣
Hi Becci, thanks so much for you comment. I totally get where you're coming from. I have moved to new cities many times in my life ... each time as a single woman, and I have found it terribly difficult. It's really tough to make new friends at any age I reckon but it definitely gets harder as you get older. For me, the things that have totally turned my life around in terms of a social circle are ... getting a dog (you spend many hours in a dog park and end up chatting to lots of people over and over) and joining a community garden. Of course, there's a lot of luck involved even then ... in meeting people you click with ... but I've found consistency is super important ... I went to the community garden working bees maybe 10, 20 times before I struck up a connection with anyone. I guess you could apply the same reasoning to volunteer work or classes/courses that you might do. Nothing happens overnight unfortunately. Hope you have a great night at pub choir!!!!
When I moved to the Netherlands from Sydney two years ago, I was astonished by the prevalence of WhatsApp here. I honestly think it would be hard to function in this country without it. I am in WhatsApp groups for family and various permutations of family; for the street block where we live, where discussions range from local council issues, social events, does-anyone-have-a-shovel-I-could-borrow, and informal neighbourhood watch; for my Dutch classes; and use it to communicate with all my friends and family here, along with businesses, shops and tradies. The verb "to app" is part of the vernacular--"Ik zal je appen" ("I will app you") means I'll send you a message on WhatsApp.
I suspect that one of the reasons it's so embraced here is that EU privacy laws are so strict that people are less reticent to hand out their mobile numbers. It's just safer. Any person or business found breaching the rules, passing on a phone number without permission, or selling it to spammers, would suffer the merciless wrath of the bureaucracy. Plus, of course, there is the encryption, something that the Dutch, who guard their privacy, very much value.
And, of course, it's a joy to use when travelling and to keep in touch with friends in Australia!
That's so interesting Margaret... I love that there's a verb for it!! Do you manage all the notifications without them adding extra stress to your life? I find them so difficult and I'm not even a prolific user! (And ... how are you enjoying the Netherlands and will you ever come back to Australia!?)
I think the trick with the notifications is just not to respond till you're ready! The preview function is useful, because normally you can tell if it's urgent. Then if you leave it to come back to later, it's not marked as read, so you don't look like you're being rude.
Very happy with our move across the planet. It's a permanent thing--my husband and daughter both have Dutch citizenship, and I'm learning Dutch so I can too. (Lots of study and exams to take--if you come from outside the EU, you need a certain degree of proficiency to maintain your visa and get citizenship.) I will definitely be back to visit, but this is home now. I'm hoping my next novel will be published there, so I'll be back for the publicity tour, if things pan out.
Congratulations on the TV adaptation of Fake! I don't think there's any way to see it here, alas. It's come a long way from back when we were sending each other panicky messages about Lex's move!
What a great, newsy newsletter this week. Thank you, Stephanie.
The a capella group sounds a tonic. The community choir I'm in has WhatsApp groups for each voice part, then adds extra groups for any event taking place. Nothing has changed about the choir's organisation, but the WhatsApp groups have definitely improved the comms and the sense of camaraderie.
It's funny, very useful, but also very "noisy". I don't enable pings on my phone. Silent only. I can't mute the chat entirely, no matter how busy it gets, as I'm an admin!
I hope you don't mind Wendy but I've just shared your community choir's WhatsApp habit with my a capella group ... amazing that you have a WhatsApp group for EVERY PART!!! Yes, I find the pings so terribly difficult ... they add so much stress to my day and I'm constantly muting them.
Of course, Stephanie, glad to share! Our choir has over 100 members, so a whole choir WhatsApp would be manic! I think we’ve got about 15 Sop 2s. There’s also a WhatsApp at the mo for those of us going on choir tour (60 of us) and everyone’s so hyped there has to be yet another group for essential on-topic messages. Thank God I’m not admin for that one! Our choir secretaries are total saints.
(And yes, all hail the mute button!)
I’m not part of a WhatsApp gang but have been wanting to join a local (Inner West Sydney) singing group after my Melbourne mate joined one and is loving it. Note I am not a singer but have been to Pub Choir a couple of times (and have tickets for the next Sydney gig!) and absolutely loved it. I have yet to find ‘my gang’ besides sisters and friends who live too far away. Hard to make new friends in your fifties, would love to be able to just simply meet up for a drink with a gang of fellow reprobates 🤣
Hi Becci, thanks so much for you comment. I totally get where you're coming from. I have moved to new cities many times in my life ... each time as a single woman, and I have found it terribly difficult. It's really tough to make new friends at any age I reckon but it definitely gets harder as you get older. For me, the things that have totally turned my life around in terms of a social circle are ... getting a dog (you spend many hours in a dog park and end up chatting to lots of people over and over) and joining a community garden. Of course, there's a lot of luck involved even then ... in meeting people you click with ... but I've found consistency is super important ... I went to the community garden working bees maybe 10, 20 times before I struck up a connection with anyone. I guess you could apply the same reasoning to volunteer work or classes/courses that you might do. Nothing happens overnight unfortunately. Hope you have a great night at pub choir!!!!