Writer and author Miles Klee was inspired to pose such a question online by another popular one about school.
“The question "What was the incident at your high school?" has always been a popular topic of discussion on Twitter, and group chats (because of their gossipy nature) sometimes replicate the dynamics of social systems at school. It just felt like a fun twist on the original prompt,” he told Bored Panda.
Miles himself is a part of quite a few group chats that revolve around a shared interest or background, ranging from fantasy football league to his colleagues in the writing world. “It's a fun way to keep in touch with lots of different friends who come together around different topics.”
While being part of group chats, he also had some of them blow up due to people getting into fights and making it awkward for everyone. “That's partly what inspired the question I posed. I think people do have a tendency to behave a little more extremely in virtual settings, which probably contributes to the breakup of certain chats.”
When it comes to sharing information in group chats, Miles believes that the boundaries of what people talk about in them should be determined by their relationship. “You can probably feel safe saying just about anything in a chat with friends you've had for years, because you know that any misunderstandings can be worked through,” he says.
But if there’s just a group of practically strangers from the internet, there’s a potential to cross the line, Miles says. “I think it's nice to have places where you can say something in confidence that you wouldn't necessarily say in public, but there should be mutual trust for that to happen—just like in any good friendship.”
A study has found that an average person is a part of a whopping 83 different group chats.
A poll of 2,000 adult social media users revealed that 36% communicate using these chats more than they do in person. 52% opt for group chats instead of phone calls and 26% are more glad to text than have one-on-one conversations.
The most common themes of group chats were family (66%), friend groups (30%) and night out planning (30%).
Professor of evolutionary psychology Robin Dunbar, who was a part of this study, commented on these findings by saying, “Maintaining contact with our networks is one of the most important things we can ever do. Not just because they are fun to spend time with, but because research shows that having a small, cohesive group of friends and contacts massively improves our mental health and wellbeing—and even our physical health.”
In addition, the study found that 50% prefer group chats out of convenience of sharing pictures and videos and personal updates (56%). Around 53% favour this way of texting because it’s easy to plan things and 35% opt for it so everyone can hear news at the same time.
6 in 10 say that online chats help them feel more connected with loved ones that live further from them, while 43% reported that their family was brought closer by being a part of a group chat. 23% have even made a new friend with a person they met by being in the same group.
