Becca Dunn
A screenshot of a completely non-fabricated conversation in the official Criterion group chat.
If I saw an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, about to erase everything as we know it, I would take the time to text each of you individually about our impending doom.
I hate group chats.
At any given time, only one or two people need to know what I’m doing. Too often I get spammed with notifications as a result of a back and forth between two people that could be a private message thread. Some people need the whole world to know that they are freaking out about the next exam, but the less people that know what I’m doing, the better.
Group chats are often set up between co-workers or classmates as a place for community and conversation, but the chatting environment is not appropriate for idle banter. The conversation moves too fast for many voices to contribute, so the ones with the fastest thumbs dominate the conversation. Too much of texting communication has become a filler for actual conversation, such as the reaction button and the incessant parade of unoriginal memes. I do not need a notification everytime someone does “smiley face” at another cat meme. The actual information that needs to be conveyed gets lost in the fluff and then people ask for it again, resulting in more notifications.
Group chats should only be used for coordinating schedules and should have a clear moderator to guide a productive conversation. My D&D discord server is a perfect example of this. Our game master leads the discussion, posting two possible meeting times and everyone else votes on which they prefer. There is no notification spamming, no irrelevant memes. It’s a launching off point for us gathering in-person, where we can actually have a fun conversation that includes everyone.