Navigating WhatsApp groups can be a minefield of second-guessing what is and isn’t OK.
I feel this a lot as a parent dealing with the logistics of three young kids, as well as my own friends and family.
There are many anxieties associated with such groups. How much is too much to post? How little is too little to respond? When is it OK to leave the group, given those who stay behind will receive a message showing that you’ve “left the chat”?
And when is it ok to spam the full group, especially when undertaking some personal research? For example, I need to find the parent of a child called ‘Jackson’ for my 6yo — but there are three Jacksons in the class and I have absolutely no idea which mother is which. Do you post a general callout, ‘Looking for Jackson’s Mum, the Jackson with blonde hair’, or risk inviting the wrong kid to the playdate?
There are unwritten laws about starting such groups also, creating plenty more opportunities to worry. When is sending an unsolicited inclusion into a group ok? How many people are too many? Who is excluded, do/will they know and will they care? What do you call the group?
And the big concern: what happens if you send the wrong message to the wrong group? Delete the message, knowing the group will see that you’ve done so? Or, send a follow-up to apologise, thereby creating even more communication?
Somehow, I don’t think former Prime Minister Scott Morrison suffers from these anxieties when it comes to WhatsApp groups.
Especially given the example we’ve learned about today regarding a group he established with a couple of cricketing legends.
During Morrison’s time as PM — and possibly while he was holding a number of other ministries — Morrison created a WhatsApp group called “The Legends” for a trio of “legends” including himself, former Australian coach Justin Langer and captain Pat Cummins. It’s not the first time Morrison’s shared WhatsApp groups with cricketers, having previously slipped messages into a group that included Langer and former captain Tim Paine.
The groups were revealed in a new Amazon documentary about the Australian men’s cricket team, and reported in the Sydney Morning Herald today, noting how the such communications provide some insight into the “crossover of sporting and political power in Australia.”
It’s not unusual for prime ministers to get cozy with cricketers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently hosted the men’s team at Kirribilli House, where he reportedly urged David Warner to support his beloved NRL team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs (Warner prefers the Sydney Roosters). Morrison came under fire during the 2019/20 Summer bushfires for pursuing photo ops with the cricket team. Tony Abbott hosted both the Australian and Indian cricket teams back in 2015, and Malcolm Turnbull hosted the Australian and West Indies teams back in 2016. There is something prime ministers being around the “legends” or sport that Australians love to lap up — and politicians clearly love to pursue. Although, as we can see in the cricket example, there is definitely a penchant for hosting and celebrating men’s teams, even despite the success of their female counterparts.
In the Amazon doco, Cummins reveals the name of Morrison’s group was a little awkward — highlighting the importance of getting group names correct, and the risks that can occur if you double-up or create a name that’s too general. Cummins shares how he was already part of his own group of Australian bowlers called The Legends, so when he was added to Morrison’s own Legends group he had “a laugh with the boys thinking I’d better not send the wrong things to the wrong group.”
And while he may be a legend, Cummins is also human. And like the rest of us, can get it wrong. On one occasion, he did send a message – “a photo or a meme or something” — to the wrong “Legends” group and he had to quickly delete it. “Sorry PM,” Cummins said in the doco.
So rest easy on the WhatsApp concerns. Remembering Morrison will go with group names like “The Legends”, and even the likes of Cummins makes mistakes.