How Often Do You Send Voice Notes on WhatsApp (or other messaging apps)?

There’s a funny pattern I’ve noticed in my daily WhatsApp conversations. Some people will start out typing like the rest of us normal texters. Then suddenly, a few messages in, they flip the switch and go full voice note mode. You know the ones. They don’t just type “Hey, how are you?” They send a 42-second voice note asking how your day was, what you had for lunch, and whether you’re still watching that Netflix series you mentioned two weeks ago.

And clearly, this isn’t just a niche habit. Back in 2022, a decade after WhatsApp first introduced voice messaging, the company revealed that people were sending 7 billion voice notes every single day. Seven. Billion. And that was three years ago. Since then, WhatsApp has grown even bigger, so that number today is no doubt much higher.

Now, as someone who literally makes a living out of writing, you’d think I’d be team text 100%. And to be fair, that’s usually where I’m most comfortable. But when a friend switches to voice notes mid-chat, I often feel the urge to match the energy. It’s like an unspoken WhatsApp etiquette: If you voice, I voice.

That said, I always find myself drifting back to typing especially when in public spaces to avoid the awkwardness that comes with voice messaging in such settings. Also, there’s just something about tapping words out that feels… right. Maybe it’s the writer in me. Maybe it’s the fact that sometimes, listening to a voice note requires earphones, good network to download the file, and enough patience to rewind when you miss something mid-sentence.

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But here’s where I’m curious: How about you? Do you lean heavily on voice notes, sending them left, right, and center? Do you only use them occasionally when typing feels like too much work? Or are you strictly team text, with no intention of hearing someone’s voice unless it’s an actual phone call?

And yes, this is especially interesting considering WhatsApp remains the most popular instant messaging app in Kenya (alongside Facebook, according to this list of top social media platforms published earlier this year in the CA’s Audience Measurement and Industry Trends report for Q3 2024/25. So I know many of us are making this exact choice daily, whether consciously or not.

So let’s settle this once and for all. Vote below 👇🏽