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11 Worst Things Whatsapp Is Doing To Your School

WhatsApp has 1.5 billion active users in over 180 countries. 1 million people register on WhatsApp daily. 58% of users access WhatsApp several times a day. An average user opens the app at least 23 times on a daily basis. And here we are, telling you that Whatsapp is harmful and there are at least 11 worst things whatsapp is doing to your school! Sounds crazy right? Read on.

Research carried out by Guild found that while 38% of professionals use WhatsApp for work purposes, a rather overwhelming 78% of these users want an alternative.

1. FOMO is real! Whatsapp is making you addicted

Fear of missing out also known ads FOMO is real. Research done by statistica to support that statement.

If you consider your anxiety about incoming messages strange, the information that an average WhatsApp user checks her phone 23 times a day to see if there are new messages should be comforting to you. - Statistica

Be it Social Media or Whatsapp, it makes you come back to the phone and grab it every time there is a beep sound. Oh what have I missed? Now by combining whatsapp for personal use and for your school, it  keeps drawing you back to the phone. Whether you realise it or not, you are getting addicted to it.

2. Your Data is stored insecurely and you don't even know!

If you think your data is safe, you are in for a surprise. 

In 2015, WhatsApp was ranked last by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for its failure to protect their users’ data privacy.

WhatsApp for Android feature is such that it stores its data where it does not belong. Let us explore what that means a little more. Data must be partitioned for storage. However, Instead of partitioning data, it is stored in the /sdcard partition. 

What does that mean? It means that this data is  visible to ALL apps with file access. How does all apps get file access you may ask? Well, when you download any app, they ask for certain permissions and most apps ask for file access permission. Imagine sharing pictures of your school kids and that being easily accessible by other applications!

Scary?

3. WhatsApp knows enough about you despite their end-to-end encryption

WhatsApp has a certain level of privacy. It does not pry into your communication logs. Neither does it access your pictures, videos or listen to any audio recording you share. So far it is true. 

But do you know what Whatsapp has access to? Your audio and video call logs. Whatsapp knows who you spoke to when and to top that, it actually reads all your contacts from your phone book. Now with Facebook buying whatsapp, you are giving them an opportunity to pry into your profile as well. 

4. Whatsapp is open for Malware threats:

A report in Business Today speaks about a new malware called Agent Smith. 

If you are a WhatsApp user, you may receive  malware threats via an infected link or file that basically alters WhatsApp installed on your phone and changes it with a malicious update that serves ads. The malware is so intelligent that it is even  capable of hiding its identity from the phone's launcher screen and makes you think this it is WhatsApp instead and start serving advertisements. 

5. Hackers can alter photos and videos that you share:

The most important thing for a school, especially because there are kids involved is safety and privacy. A security flaw has been recently highlighted in WhatsApp. The app allows potential hackers to alter the image, audio or even video files that is shared. This issue is again from the way the media is stored in Whatsapp. 

Imagine the pictures and videos of children exposed to harmful sources, content manipulation and the risk of kids privacy! This is extremely concerning and doesn't feel safe at all.

6. You are losing control

Inappropriate messages happen in your school group and  you have no control over it. Right from silly forwards to greeting messages, the essence of your school group is lost. Parents are also able to see the contact details of other parents. Anyone can add another member of your group to their whatsapp and start messaging them, which could be intrusive. Another disadvantage of using whatsapp for school is that you cannot delete messages that you have shared after a certain time. You are also unable to delete messages of parents if found inappropriate. A school app or a school management software will provide you will complete control.

7. You are losing efficiency and school productivity.

Whatsapp is taking away your precious time and you don't even realise it. You already know that whatsapp is addictive. By using a whatsapp for personal and business use, you are constantly reminded of the messages by the non stop beeps. While checking for messages in  your school group, you tend to get easily distracted with messages from other chat groups or people, drawing you in and wasting your precious time. 

8.You have to run helter skelter trying to retrieve old messages

One of the biggest issues of whatsapp is that it is a linear chat platform which has no thread to clearly demarcate different kinds of messages. A school app will have various sections with clear threads to help retrieve messages. In whatsapp, that option is not possible. Therefore schools and parents have to scroll infinitely to find old messages that are sent. It is difficult to keep track of messages that were sent as old as a week. 

9. Whatsapp is making you lose your brand identity.

Your look less of a professional using whatsapp for your business. A school app will help you build brand image and also position you are a forward thinking school who is riding the digital wave. By using whatsapp, you position your school as someone who is not capable of getting an app for yourself. It is understandable that stand alone apps are expensive to build. But school management software or school apps on ONNE doesn't cost an arm and a leg. It also helps school improve their brand image

10. Whatsapp is adding to your existing workload

By using chat platform, if you think you are improving communication with parents, it is quite the opposite. A chat platform like whatsapp is only designed for personal chat. Schools need specific features to help manage and run operations smoothly, The functionalities that enables school improve productivity is not in whatsapp. Therefore, schools have to end up working extra hard by sending more messages, creating reports or timetables offline and taking pictures and sending to parents. Taking attendance is another example. Whatsapp doesnt have features such as these to reduce school’s workload.

11. WhatsApp Group Messaging Is a joke

Multiple groups in your school means multiple messages and a constant distraction. And one person has to end up managing these groups and respond to messages. It is extremely noisy and unstructured. Imaging having to run to a specific class teacher because there is an enquiry in that class group and you have no idea about. Lack of multiple admin access and restricting it to one phone use is not helpful for schools at all. A school app however, provides multiple admin access levels to make communication smoother.

Time to get an app for your school. Get your school app on ONNE today!

Related Articles

Pros & Cons of Using Whatsapp for your School

Death by a 100 beeps. Chat is killing your school productivity.

Why you should forget chat and get your own APP on ONNE.

The post 11 Worst Things Whatsapp Is Doing To Your School appeared first on Onne Blog.



This post first appeared on School Parent Engagement: Effective Communication That Works For Schools, please read the originial post: here

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