Pastor Sarah Omakwu, the senior cleric of Family Worship Centre (FWC), has sparked a heated debate after advising people to stop hiding their read receipts on WhatsApp. In a sermon excerpt shared on her TikTok page, she argued that removing the blue ticks is a form of lying and insincerity.
Pastor's Perspective on WhatsApp Read Receipts
In the viral video, Pastor Omakwu stated that hiding read receipts keeps people in suspense and reflects dishonesty. She urged her followers to put back the blue tick so that others can see when a message has been read. "Put back the blue tick on your WhatsApp. Put it back. Put it back. Taking it off means you are lying. So, then you keep people in suspense. Those of you that remove the blue tick, it is insincerity. Just so you know," she said.
She further emphasized that leaving read receipts on is a sign of integrity, while removing them shows a lack of accountability. "Integrity starts in the small places. If you’re hiding your read receipts to dodge accountability, that’s not wisdom. That’s dishonesty. God won’t promote what you can’t be trusted with. Let your yes be yes, even on WhatsApp. Start living in truth," she wrote.
Mixed Reactions from Social Media Users
The pastor's message has drawn mixed reactions, with many people disagreeing with her analogy. Some users defended their choice to hide read receipts, citing reasons such as maintaining boundaries and managing their time effectively.
- Stevy commented: "I never comot am one day. I no care about anybody. I go read your message and not respond with my full chest."
- Curiosity made me ask said: "I see people without blue tick as low confidence, cus if I don't want to reply you I will read it, it will blue tick and won't reply..."
- King Nasir’s Wife questioned: "Am I the only one that thinks the God example doesn’t fit in?"
- Soul Episodes Global argued: "No ma'am, it's not insincerity, it's diplomacy, it's you being in charge of your time and what you want to respond to, it's about saving time from unnecessary explanations to certain people, It's about standard and boundaries, I won't put it back, I love the settings."
- Divi stated: "Read receipts off. Active status off. Profile photo blank. And I don’t intend turning any of it back on. No more “you ignored my message” or “you viewed my status and didn’t reply.”
Related Developments: WhatsApp Testing Paid Feature
In a related story, WhatsApp has begun testing a paid feature, currently available to a limited number of users on Android devices. The feature is part of an early testing phase, with plans to extend support to iOS users later. Meta has not yet announced when the update will be available to Nigerian users but is committed to making it accessible to as many subscribers as possible.
