How Group Chats Rule the World

There is not really a mention as to how I, and I believe many other, really use group chats. Yeah. Of course I have a couple group chats with people I know... But these do not compare to the ones that I'm in that have been formed entirely online.

The dynamics might be similar but in my experience online (born) groups tend to be much more chaotic and there's a drift of members coming in an out that's quite interesting. For many that I've met they might chat everyday with the people in the group to simply disappear one day and never come back, or perhaps come back a year or two later (if the group is still alive).

I think it stems from the fact that for the journalist "group chats" are linked to apple's technology "iMessage". But for me, when I think of group chats I think of discord servers, IRC channels, etc. I mean, Ive been using group chats for years before the smartphone came, and the experience I had back then is pretty much identical to the one I have today. I was the kind of kid that was in front of the computer all day anyway.

Re: How Group Chats Rule the World

#6

Post by kridsdale1 » Tue, Jan 16, 2024, 3:34 PM UTC

bradhe wrote: post #3

[flagged]

Or you could pay for journalism.

Re: How Group Chats Rule the World

#7

Post by jakupovic » Tue, Jan 16, 2024, 3:50 PM UTC

kridsdale1 wrote: post #6

bradhe wrote: post #3

[flagged]

Or you could pay for journalism.

I wonder how well HN would do if it were pay-walled? I'm guessing not very well. Then asking people who are here because it's free to pay for linked content is wrong? Hence, I can understand the sentiment behind blocking the nyt content, but not sure I'm 100% behind it, just like I'm not behind making HN for a fee.

Re: How Group Chats Rule the World

#8

Post by paulddraper » Tue, Jan 16, 2024, 4:07 PM UTC

bradhe wrote: post #3

[flagged]

There's always an archive link

Re: How Group Chats Rule the World

#9

Post by somewhereoutth » Tue, Jan 16, 2024, 4:13 PM UTC

> one has become such a dominant feature of my social life that it is simply named “The Girls,” as if there were no other girls. (The act of naming of a group chat in iMessage indicates, to some degree, its staying power, no matter how silly the name itself may be.) Thus “The Girls” has become one of the first places any of us would look to make social plans. At least, I think so — it is highly possible that for one or another of us there is another group chat, totally unknown to me, that is more important.

I'm a Gen X guy, but this is exactly how it works nowadays. WhatsApp of course, not iMessage in Europe.

Re: How Group Chats Rule the World

#10

Post by amadeuspagel » Tue, Jan 16, 2024, 4:18 PM UTC

jakupovic wrote: post #7

kridsdale1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could pay for journalism.

I wonder how well HN would do if it were pay-walled? I'm guessing not very well. Then asking people who are here because it's free to pay for linked content is wrong? Hence, I can understand the sentiment behind blocking the nyt content, but not sure I'm 100% behind it, just like I'm not behind making HN for a fee.

I wonder how well the NYT would do if it was backed by Goldman Sachs.