![]() If you’re not yet caught in this vicious web, here’s some useful advice for staying sane when navigating the KakaoTalk world. If you’ve already been dragged into this mess as an ignorant foreigner, I feel your pain. Please refer to example #1 for available options. You then realize that ten minutes have passed. If they read it, surely they’ll respond within seconds. Not again wanting to be labeled as a stalker by your judgmental subconscious mind, you hurriedly exit the chat (something you’ve even practiced doing when mindlessly playing with your phone) – crisis averted. A few minutes later, you see that the yellow “1” has disappeared = they read your text. You’ve been having a fun ongoing chat for hours, and without thinking about the constant power struggle that you know constantly lurks under the surface, you send off a breezy message. The much-dreaded “read, no reply”. You’ve finally started thinking that the KakaoTalk gods have forgiven your sinful ways and agreed to again look upon you with mercy.Especially if you respond with a question mark. If you reply with “hey, how are you?” you can be absolutely sure that your message will go unread and/or unanswered for anywhere between 5 and 48 hours. Whatever you do, do not fall for this one! It’s a trap (the KakaoTalk version of emails from Nigerian princes) with the sole purpose of luring you back into the dark realm of KakaoTalk agony. It conveys the same meaning as when we write “heeeeeeyyy”. Receiving the “Hey~~~~” message with absolutely no follow-up. Koreans love adding a ~ after everything.You may as well walk out on the nearest bridge spanning the Han River and throw your phone into its muddy waters. Congratulations, you are now a desperate stalker with no life. Your chatting partner will notice that the yellow “1” on their side disappears the moment they send the message. The dark road (which sadly turns out to be the road most traveled), involves obsessing over the fact that they did not reply, constantly checking in on the chat to see whether or not the message has been read, and if you are really out of the good graces of the KakaoTalk gods, you’ll notice that your message is being read while you’re still in the chatroom, and a reply ticks in before your clumsy fingers hit the escape button. Curious what they are? The sane person will assume that there’s a reasonable excuse, leave the chat themselves, move on with their life, and not give it a second thought until the other one decides to return to the chat (note: this may take days). A sane option, and an option that will slowly drag you into a slavery where KakaoTalk and your conversation partner are the only omnipotent masters. You can literally go from exchanging hilarious emoticons one moment to deadpan silence the next. ![]() Sure they have, they just don’t want to reply right now, and now you are left wondering what suddenly came up that was more important. You then notice the little yellow “1” which indicates that the other has not “read” your message. Being in the middle of a chat back and forth with someone when the messages just stop coming in.Koreans probably learn how to do this in school, in fact, I’m confident that they even attend private academies after hours to learn how to torture each other with this devilish app. They are just designed to make you captivated by their cuteness, so you don’t realize that you’re gradually being pulled into a dark underworld that will continue to mess with your brain. There is nothing cute about these little minions what so ever. Even the sanest person will, with time, be driven mad by the KaTalk paranoia that follows from the frequent use of this app.ĭon’t be fooled by the seemingly innocuous emoticons with names like Frodo, Peachy (who’s really just a bare butt – I mean you are you kidding?!), and Ryan. To unknowing foreigners, the KakaoTalk app (or KaTalk as Koreans call their go-to communication tool) can be a true landmine field of unwritten rules, secret etiquette and, well, pure hell. Forget phone calls, people will just have a long chat going on KakaoTalk instead. You cannot go out of your house without instantly hearing the annoying, cuts-through-your-bones, signature KaTalk chirp from someone’s phone.įor Koreans, texting is the preferred method of communication. Skype, Whatsapp, Line, KakaoTalk… Wait, did I say KakaoTalk? Yes, though globally available, this seems to be THE most popular chatting app in Korea. I’m all for new technology that now connects us to anyone anywhere at any time, and I have several apps installed on my phone for that exact purpose. I consider myself a pretty modern, high-tech, new-world-embracing kinda gal. Warning: May contain large doses of sarcasm.
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