Group texts – a necessary evil?!
What’s the general consensus on group texts (you know, the text you get that happens to include many other people – and sometimes phone numbers you don’t recognize – then blows up your phone as those many people respond)? Yay or nay?
Only acceptable when sharing cute human or fur children pictures?
Only acceptable when everyone in the group knows everyone else?
Only acceptable for emergencies (in which case a phone call would have been better but wasn’t possible)?
Only acceptable for forming plans with large groups?
Only acceptable for continuing inside jokes?
Acceptable all the time?!
Hmm.
I admit, sometimes I like them and sometimes I don’t. And I am MAJORLY guilty of using one for a long time now.
I mentioned in December that I was doing a bad job keeping people updated on house stuff. So I started a group text to update everyone anytime we had news.
“The septic was finally fixed!”
“We think we’ll close in two weeks!”
“Nevermind.”
Ha ha.
I updated everyone throughout the move then asked if anyone wanted to be dropped off the conversation or if they wanted to keep getting house updates – because there is still stuff going on every day (as you’ve seen here).
Everyone stayed on! Ha ha.
And I’ve found the group text is a nice place for me to find house photos on my phone. I upload photos (and delete them off my phone) most days, so I can’t access them in my photos folder. I have a folder on Google Drive for storing photos (which I can get to by my phone), but sometimes it’s easier to find one in the group text (if I don’t want to show my blog to someone). Anyway.
So I enjoy the group text… but I still feel like I’m being annoying!
Themocracy
If it was including a bunch of people I didn’t know with a bunch of random side conversations (if that makes sense) it’d be annoying but something like your one with a very clear point is fine
That DOES make sense. I do feel bad that with this one at first, some people didn’t know who all the other numbers were, but I let everyone know.
I pretty much just use group texts for when I’m trying to coordinate group activities but I don’t mind them when other people use them. Though I usually just prefer them when it’s all people I know.
I have always looked at things in a hierarchical way:
– Ultra personal stuff is face-to-face
– Context/discussion sensitive stuff can be a phone call
– Information updates are email
– Quick check-ins are text.
But again I grew up in the era before cable, internet of cell phones (or cordless phones for that matter!), so I have had these things rolled out slowly over my lifetime.
We have a group chat with myself, wife and two boys, which is cool especially now with #1 son in NYC (and #2 headed to Ithaca in the fall!). Also with my parents and siblings, and my mother has one for her general communications. I think group chats are awesome.
And for my kids email is a necessary evil rather than a go-to communication mode, so for them texting (and a variety of chat-apps) are the default. So no worries – go for it!
Ha ha, yeah, it’s really interesting if you think about how popular texting is now, and how we never would have imagined that is how a lot of communication would take place! There are things I definitely prefer not be text… but I appreciate that it’s an option.
That’s cool you have the family group chat going on! 🙂
I am a fan of group texts! I think they’re a great way to stay connected and especially to keep a not-all-local-anymore group in touch and still having all the same references and in jokes.
That said, I am NOT a fan when there are people I don’t know included and I keep getting random updates from numbers I don’t know, ha. But among friends I am 100% pro!
Yes! And to go along with keeping a group in touch… sometimes it’s nice to share a pic with that group first, before they see it on social media. I think that makes people feel good.
Ha ha, I have been on that list, too. Thankfully my phone has the the mute conversation option!
I like group texts most of the time–I have ones with my family, ones with my roommates, ones with some of my dance friends–and those are all fine. The only group texts I don’t like are ones I didn’t ask or want to be a part of haha. On rare occasions, my dance teacher will text a zillion people about an upcoming show, which leads to tons of, “I’ll be there!!!” responses from people I don’t know. Though admittedly, that is a pretty minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
Speaking of group texts, did you see this story floating around the Internet earlier this week? http://www.today.com/parents/texting-mix-over-new-baby-results-hilarious-hospital-visit-strangers-t81661
LOL! The advertisement one would make me bonkers. MUTE!
Ha! I saw that link going around but never read it! That is too sweet that they came with gifts. Love it! I love seeing feel good stories like that online 🙂
There’s one instance where I hate them:
Kev’s mom will use a group text to say “Merry Christmas” to a bunch of family and friends (that we don’t know/don’t have in our phones and who frankly are not very tech savvy and don’t understand how group texts work). If one of us happens to make the mistake of texting back the whole group instead of just his mom we then get a bunch of texts back saying “Wrong number” or “who is this?”. Ughh it’s so annoying! hahah.
Buah ha ha! That is funny but SUPER annoying!
Hate them passionately. Only good for forming plans with groups and must all be people I know. And DO NOT GO OFF TOPIC in them ever. Do not use them for forwards or jokes or pictures. That’s for Facebook. Especially since you don’t know if the recipient has unlimited texting. I only got that two months ago. I had to leave group messages for fear of running my SMS total too high.
Your rant reminds me of a few years ago when a friend of mine had an iPhone and I still had a dumb phone and she assumed everyone had unlimited iPhone to iPhone messaging and would blow up my phone… I had to tell her to send me one concise text only, please. LOL.
I don’t like it. We are using one right now planning out our stuff for Kal-Haven. Not an everyday thing but when it starts going off late at night and I am trying to sleep…it pisses me off. Yes, it is an easy way for all of us to communicate but there needs to be an hour restriction…only use between the hours of 3-5pm…i would be good! haha
LOL! Do you not have a do not disturb option so you can turn off notifications at night?
I am surprised when I see a text from a certain hour, later. Like, did they really think I’d be up? Ha!
Oh I do…I just forget because we don’t use it everyday. Still who texts at 11pm? lol
Young people?! ha ha
Now that I have a phone that works properly with group texts (my phone from a few years ago did NOT work with them and I’d get all the messages as individual, even the responses) I like them sometimes. I don’t like when there are numbers I don’t know and a ton of responses. Especially if it’s a cute kid/fur kid photo and everyone just responds with ‘adorable’ or whatever. I do like them for keeping in touch with my in laws and their goings on because there are so many of them (Joey has 3 sisters).
I never use them. Ever. If I need to coordinate something we create a Facebook group message thing and hash it out.
I can see how it would work with your house updates though.
I am the opposite and generally, really dislike using Facebook messenger (I know, funny, since I send you sh*t all the time on it)! I have a hard time keeping track of stuff on it. One time I was included on a message with 40 people and there was NO way I was reading back through all the messages, so I asked the original person what was going on. Ha ha.
But this all may be because I use it only on my computer and don’t have the Facebook or Messenger app on my phone. Maybe that would make a difference.
I hate them. So. So. Much. I have a friend who will use them to give random news about her kid. “L has a fever today. Poor guy” with a picture. I hate to be mean but don’t need to know that. Get instagram. Or put it on Facebook if it’s so necessary to send it to 5+ people. And above, with the holidays – so mu much yes.
Ha ha ha, I would go so far as to say I don’t think that needs to be on insta or FB. Maybe tell a friend or two about it individually… lol. Some people overshare 😉
I don’t mind being included in a large group text with people I don’t know for a VERY IMPORTANT UPDATE (like a health crisis, or something similar) but I tend to drop off rather quickly. Shoot, even the group texts with my husband and two kids can make me insane if everyone is responding all at once!
So definitely NOT for you!
It’s hard to keep track when everyone responds so rapidly! Yesterday I was running an errand and looked at my phone during (I don’t have text notifications turned out to make a noise or vibrate) and was surprised to see quite a few texts on my screen and had no idea what they were about!
Group texts are fine in theory, but what drives me nuts is that there is no way to opt out of them. That, I think, is shitty. I don’t want to keep getting a zillion more messages from random people long after I already have/shared the info I need. It’s obnoxious. It’s nice that they want to take the opportunity to rehash old inside jokes or catch up, but if I don’t want to be part of that I should have the option to mute the conversation like I can on Facebook. Maybe Kevin and I just need new phones, because on both of our phones, we get all the responses to group texts as separate individual messages. I guess we just need to upgrade and the problem goes away 🙂
Yeah, it sounds like you need to. You can mute them on the iPhone, and maybe Android, too? A bunch of individual texts would make me crazy!
I like group texts, most of the time. In fact, I group texted my sister and Mom last week (ok, small group but still!) when I was having a really bad day because I needed them BOTH. LOL! Thankfully they both chimed in with their encouragement and calmed me down.
My group text with my mom and snis is one of my faves! I am happy yours helped!
I get irrationally angry about group texts when I don’t know, like, ONE number. I’m just all like HOW DARE YOU!!! which, yeah, makes me sound like a crazy person.
I do like them when it’s like three people where we’ll all good friends though! Although two friends and I have a Slack channel (like a private chatroom) that we use now instead, and it somehow seems so much more palatable than a group text. I guess I’m just a grumpy person when it comes to text notifications.
You’ve at least come a long way since refusing to use text!
I think with the group text, at least for me, I don’t mind the quick 10 texts or less updates on multiple people meeting up somewhere, or sharing a pic or two of something cool. Where it gets irritating is when it goes on for hours or days. It’s as if no one knows how to leave a group text (which is possible on an iPhone)
For other group chatting, I’ve been involved in more Skype ones than text ones, thank goodness.