According to a survey by the IT industry organization Bitkom, a significant number of Germans use private messenger apps, with 87 percent using them at least occasionally. Among these users, 72 percent admit to feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages. For 20 percent, this feeling is frequent, while another 52 percent experience it sometimes or rarely.
The feeling of being overloaded tends to be more common among older users than younger ones. Among users aged 65 and older, 78 percent report that messages become too much, and 28 percent do so frequently. For those aged 16 to 29, this figure drops to 68 percent, with 16 percent reporting frequent overwhelm. Consequently, almost 70 percent of users (69 percent) at least occasionally leave messages unanswered for longer periods because they feel overwhelmed: 12 percent admit this happens often, while 57 percent say it happens sometimes or rarely.
Despite feeling overwhelmed, many users also struggle with the associated guilt. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73 percent) admit to feeling guilty at least occasionally when they don’t respond immediately to a message. Eleven percent experience this frequently, and 62 percent report feeling guilty sometimes or rarely. Furthermore, many users apologize when their reply is delayed; three-quarters (75 percent) do this at least occasionally, 20 percent often, and 55 percent only sometimes or rarely.
Regarding patience for delayed responses, most messenger users remain relatively understanding. 87 percent of users generally understand when others do not respond immediately to a message, 21 percent of whom do so frequently, and 66 percent only sometimes or rarely. However, this patience has limits. If friends take an excessive amount of time to reply, 69 percent view this as a reason to end or discontinue the contact. However, this extreme response is frequent for only 9 percent, while 60 percent only feel this way sometimes or rarely.
