Last month, Kakao introduced a feature that allows users to quietly leave a group chat room without being seen. More than 2 million people have used the feature in less than a month, indicating that there are many people who have felt uncomfortable with it. Voices for the right not to be connected are also growing.

Jihye Song, Reporter, Living Economy We Want to Know.

[Reporter]

[Yoon Soo Lee/University Student: {How many group chat rooms are you in?} I think there are more than 30, including group and family chat rooms].

[Hyungchul Kim/University Student : I think I’m in about twenty or so].

There are dozens of social media group chat rooms.

But in the past, it was not easy to leave a chat room when the purpose was over.

There is a record that you left.

[Chae Min-ji/University Student: I think you might think that you’re leaving because you’re uncomfortable in this group, and it’s a little attention-grabbing because it’s so visible토토사이트…]

In response to these uncomfortable voices, Kakao introduced the ‘leave quietly’ feature last month.

About 20 days after its launch, it had over 2 million users.

Users responded favorably because they could leave a chat room they no longer needed without leaving a trace.

[Jungwoo Koo, professor of sociology at Sungkyunkwan University: I think such things (leaving traces) affect our relationships with people, so there are certain inconveniences because we feel pressured, and it scratched that itch a little bit].

Mr. Kim Se-ho, in his 30s, also used this feature to quietly leave three group chat rooms.

[Kim Se-ho, 30s] I think the ‘Leave quietly’ feature is like a bus stop. Just like people get on and off at a bus stop, you can get on and off a relationship for a while, but you can’t ride it all the way.”]

There are also growing calls for the so-called ‘right not to be connected’.

It is pointed out that the development of information and communication technology has increased convenience, but the right to disconnect is lacking.

In a recent survey, six out of ten office workers said that they were contacted by their employers after work through phone calls or social media.

[Park Sung-woo/JobGuard119 Labor Lawyer : If (contact) is unavoidable, it should be considered as a kind of overtime work, and proper compensation, overtime pay, etc. should be paid accordingly (is necessary).

Overseas, the right to be “unconnected” during non-business hours is being written into labor laws.

In France, in workplaces of 50 or more employees, the “conditions” under which the company can contact you after work must be established through labor negotiations.

In Portugal, employers are prohibited from calling, texting, or emailing employees when they are not at work.

In Korea, a so-called “after-work KakaoTalk ban” has been proposed.

However, it failed to cross the threshold of the National Assembly due to criticisms of over-regulation, and is still stuck in committee.

It seems urgent to come up with realistic measures to balance our online and offline lives.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)