WhatsApp is strictly for my own business, not my neighbour’s

A survey says eight in ten city folk are members of a local group chat

I share memes of AI babies pretending to be Donald Trump. It’s even my informal filing system. But it seems I am one of the very few people in Edinburgh who is not a member of a neighbourhood WhatsApp group.

A survey by online estate agents Purplebricks reveals that eight in ten city folk are members of a local group chat, where they discuss everything from upcoming events to nuisance neighbours and litter louts, and 37 per cent even admit to using the app to spread gossip.

I can’t think of anything worse than being in a neighbourhood chat group. I live on the ground floor of a three-storey tenement. If our building needs attention, or the grass is due to be cut, we will email each other. We say hello on the stair, take in each other’s deliveries, and a couple of us tend the flowers and fruit bushes in our back green.

We know a couple who live in the next door stair because their cat plays with ours, but that is about it. I have no idea who lives in the rest of the street, let alone have their phone number so I can message them about the state of the pavements or that Mrs X is having an affair with Mr Y. As for local events – the most exciting thing that has happened in our vicinity recently was the surprise appearance of a grey squirrel, which was soon chased off by the cats.

I suppose if we lived in Currie or Corstorphine which have more of a village vibe, we might be more tempted to join in. And I was so involved in community activities when I lived in Wester Hailes that a WhatsApp group would have been a godsend. But back in the ‘80s and ‘90s we thought Spectrum computers and VHS recorders were the future. I love WhatsApp, but it’s strictly for my own business, not my neighbour’s.