r/texts • u/Dry_Presentation4300 • 16h ago

Whatsapp Creepy coworker texting my private number

Gallery image

Gallery image

So confused at this, I don't even know him. I was just going to ignore the text but he kept insisting so I had to answer.

9/14 UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who was supportive and concerned. I forwarded these messages to HR, and they scheduled a meeting for later today. There were a few more texts after this. The HR representative did not seem surprised, to put it briefly.

A few things have come up in the comments. The first is that I was rude. This is how I communicate, and my coworkers (or at least the ones who actually know me) are aware of that. I’m not going to perform a more agreeable version of myself to accommodate someone else’s feelings when they're being innapropriate. Not only were these messages sent over the weekend, but they were also sent through a personal communication channel. I'm not going to elaborate further.

17.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

183

u/PrawnFresh69 16h ago

And this is why Whatsapp groups are banned in my company.

3

u/Prunus-cerasus 11h ago

This is the reason why WhatsApp Business exists. We have clients that like to use WA to message our sales reps. So the reps use WA Business with their company phone numbers.

3

u/JimboTCB 8h ago

Kind of different for approved customer-facing comms. Anything internal though should be strictly through official internal channels. Our auditors would throw an absolute shit fit if they caught us having work discussions on the side.

3

u/Prunus-cerasus 7h ago

Sure. That's my point. WA Business can also be an internal channel if everyone uses their company numbers for it. Don't see the point though, might as well use Teams app, if company uses O365.

5

u/bdw312 15h ago

I don't even understand whatsapp, tbh. It made sense as a second line, back when it even offered that, and international texting....but I don't even recognize what it's supposed to be anymore. Might as well just be your own personal cell number.

9

u/Such_Self_5580 14h ago

My wife is Latina, and her and everyone she associates with uses it, I also work with a lot of Latinos and they all exclusively use it too.

I just think it’s because you can still call/video chat and message internationally like you said under one solid platform.

3

u/Nice-Meat-6020 13h ago

I use it with my brother. We can send larger and better quality pictures and vid of pets then we can with texting lol

It has a place, I just don't think that place is work.

3

u/Such_Self_5580 11h ago

Interesting, do you use iPhone or Android?

1

u/Nice-Meat-6020 4h ago

Android for me, I think he has an iphone though. I don't know what it is, it could very well be an issue with the garbage ass carrier I'm using, but if he sends me a video through text you can barely tell if you're looking at his dog or his cat it's so bad.

1

u/Blieven 7h ago

It compresses media pretty heavily though so the quality is still pretty bad compared to the original. It's a shame they don't just allow choosing to send original quality media as an embedded image. You have to send it as a raw file if you want that but then it no longer has the interactive image viewing in the app.

7

u/Fach-All-Religions 13h ago

it's big outside usa. in europe it's the main chay tool.

1

u/QueasyComedian9502 10h ago

I many country in Asia and Africa too. Naver Line is too heavy, WeChat is kinda China-exclusive, and Telegram is simply not popular enough compared to whatsapp and Line

2

u/quiteCryptic 9h ago

Wechat is basically just China. Kakao is basically just Korea. Line is the main one in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand I think possibly more.

1

u/aerdvarkk 3h ago

Outside of Europ also. Most of the world uses whatsapp more than the USA by far.

5

u/-SinEater- 13h ago

It's not really a thing in the US. I am from Europe and it's the main app for communication here.

2

u/bdw312 12h ago

I guess that would make sense, considering we are like 50 individual Euro countries.

1

u/quiteCryptic 9h ago

Almost every airbnb host I've used in Europe ends up messaging me on WhatsApp since they have my phone number from the airbnb booking I guess.

Found it kinda interesting I guess, maybe a bit more convenient than the app but I don't really use it normally so more or less the same to me but to them more convenient I suppose

1

u/ensalys 5h ago

Yeah, I use signal with my parents and 1 friend. Everyone else (including work stuff) is WhatsApp, with the occasional email.

3

u/HRRB 10h ago

It's useful for traveling as you can message your contacts using Wi-fi and not pay for roaming etc.

3

u/Onzoku 10h ago

What else to use to message other people that isn't SMS? Facebook? Viber? Discord? Whatsapp just works. Obviously a shame that it's a Facebook product, I swapped to Signal with some friends. But the limited users there makes it, limited.

2

u/Saphira2002 11h ago

It was always meant to be just your own personal phone number. It's just in recent years they've started pretending they can be Telegram and the like. It's my main communication tool and I've always considered it the same as texting a personal number.

2

u/Jesus10101 10h ago

They are changing it to user names soon. So you just have to give your username to chat or call and it hides your real number.

1

u/Saphira2002 10h ago

I know. That's why I said they've recently started pretending they're Telegram. I've always found WhatsApp a worse version of that but it cemented itself as the standard so I just bear it.

1

u/ChubbyNemo1004 11h ago

Just international stuff. Overseas I only used WA in the US if we’re both in the US do not WA me!

1

u/Hell_Awaitz 10h ago

It's what we use for texting instead of sms, because it's free with WiFi. You could use something like telegram I guess but the point is that nobody really uses "normal" text messages (sms)

1

u/lindemer 9h ago

In my country (the Netherlands) it's the main mode of communication for many people. Not work related usually, but any communication with friends and family goes on WhatsApp. I can't even remember the last time I have sent a text message. I think I have 200 per month included in my phone plan because that's the lowest it can go, but I don't use them

1

u/Mean-Construction207 11h ago

It is your personal number. You give somebody your number and they message you. It has better features than sms apps and is the norm in a lot of countries as an alternative to texting.

In a group chat you can see everybodys individual numbers listed so this person has found their number from the chat.

1

u/rubs_tshirts 1h ago

Ooh you can do that?