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We all have our chat groups on various messaging apps, and when there’s a hot topic and certain people get excited and overeager to participate in the discussion, there’s a tendency for some members of the group, especially the less active, uninvolved ones, to get annoyed by the constant pinging of message notifications.

And if, like me, you enjoy fast mobile internet thanks to Globe LTE, and you have the luxury of being able to stay online 24/7 on FB Messenger, Viber, and Whatsapp without worrying about getting charged so much for data use because you’ve already opt into these messaging apps through your Globe myLifestyle plan (if you haven’t yet, naku, do it now—click here to find out how), this can be a setback when you’re in a meeting, watching a movie, enjoying quality time with loved ones, or traveling. Even when on silent or vibrate mode, messages popping up on your screen use up valuable phone juice. Case in point: I was on an island hopping tour in Isla de Gigantes in Iloilo, and my phone just kept pinging because of various chat group messages—Globe line ko lang ang may signal doon; ‘yung ibang network, wala, I just want to say.

It will be tempting to “Leave the conversation,” but trust me, it’s better to just “Mute the conversation.” Sure, people “leave” all the time chat groups that start off as those chain mails or prayer messages that you have to “send to 50 people” or event invites where people start to RSVP on the thread. After, say, the 10th reply, the next notifications would most certainly be a series of “[name] has left the group.”

But, I’ve also encountered instances where people have left a chat group of friends, colleagues, or fellow members of an organization in an ill-timed manner, sometimes creating more drama than they intended. “Talagang kailangang umalis ng chat group?” would remark one. “Ay, may issue,” another would chime in. Or maybe these mumblings and buzzing would not happen within the chat group, but when some members get together. I’m sure you know what I mean, and I’m sure this has happened to you and certain chat groups at some point. Aminin!

I prefer to give these people, my friends, my FB, Viber, and Whatsapp contacts, the benefit of the doubt. I would like to believe they just don’t know that they have the option to discreetly turn off notifications for a particular chat group without having to blatantly leave the group, prompting other members to wonder what’s wrong.

If you don’t want to receive messages, be it within a particular time frame when the chat group is active (because sometimes, they are not) or for good, just turn off notifications to prevent the drama, issues, gossiping, and uncomfortable feelings that sometimes ensue when people see that you have “left the conversation,” particularly at a bad time—unless that’s the effect you’re going for. Muting conversations is in the same menu as leaving them, so it should be pretty easy to do. But just in case, here are screenshots for reference:

On Viber:

Click the tool icon on the right of the chat group name to get to the info menu.

On the info menu, you will find the option to mute the group so you will no longer receive message notifications.

Swipe right with the tip of your finger to mute the group; swipe left to turn the message notifications back on whenever you please.

On Whatsapp

Click the name of your chat group (above) to get to the menu where you have the option to mute the conversation (below).

Once you switch on mute, a pop-up menu (below) will give you the option to mute the chat for 8hrs, a week, or a year (harsh. Haha!).

Once you’ve made your selection, click OK.

On FB Messenger (mobile)

Like in Whatsapp, just click the name of your chat group with the arrow pointing right beside it, to get to the group info (below).

Click “On” on the right of  ”Notifications” to make the pop-up option for muting them appear (below).

Select how long you want to keep the message notifications mute: 15 minutes or 8hrs when you just don’t want to be bothered at work that day, 24 hours until the cause of excitement dies down, or “Until I turn it back on” when you’re no longer interested to participate in the chat group. Ever. Haha.

On Facebook (Web/laptop browser)

When you’re on the pop-up chat, just click on the tiny tool icon (left of the x) to make the drop-down menu appear. That’s where you can select “Mute Conversation,” which actually comes before “Leave Conversation…” (below).

Once you select “Mute Conversation,” a pop-up menu will appear where, like on the FB Messenger app, you can select the duration you want to keep message notifications mute (below).

Meanwhile, when you’re on the chat group in question on the Messages page of Facebook, click the tool icon beside the “+ New Message” button to make the drop-down menu appear (below), where you can select ”Mute Conversation,” which again comes before “Leave Conversation…” Clicking that will trigger the same pop-up menu for the duration of muting the convo.

Hope this helps, my dear friends!

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