1. Family group chat. Whether it’s just your immediate family or even that second cousin twice removed is somehow in there, this is the group chat where emojis run wild and random articles are shared. (If you still live at home like me, it’s also the place where your mom asks if you’ll be home for dinner that night or asks where you are at 2am.)
2. Friends from back home group chat. Although this group chat has periods where there are weeks without a single text in it, it’s the place to go when you have to talk about what that guy from high school recently posted on Twitter or when you see something that reminds you of them.
3. Your group chat with your college best friends. Since you’re with these people 99% of the time, the texts in this group chat are mostly “are you here?” or some other variation that revolves around seeing them in person.
4. The group chat with your college best friends plus a few more people who you guys are tight with. This is the more popping group chat, with random references to school, homework, crushes, etc. 5. The really old high school group chat. This one is different from the “friends from back home group chat”, because this group chat only resurfaces once in a great while. It’s those friends you had from freshman year who randomly happen to pop up every once in awhile, despite how rarely you see them.
6. The work group chat. Well, the several work group chats; the more official ones for scheduling and info, and then the one with your coworkers who are actually your friends.
7. The roomies/RA/whatever group chat. Dorming is a mystery to me, but I’m sure this a thing.
8. That one history class where you have a group chat going with a few people. Cue the “What did I miss today?” and “Did anyone start the paper yet?” choir, plus complaining about your test results and how much reading you have to do that night.
9. Extracurricular/club group chats. Hence the meeting and weekend event reminders. 10. The random group chat you are put in when a huge group is going out that night and not everyone knows each other. “Whose number starts with (661)?”
11. Plus probably many, many more. There should be a whole category for “What even are these group chats and how did they start, also how can I leave them?” But actually, I sometimes enjoy group chats. What a cute way to talk to so many people at once. (Except for when I open my phone to 84 messages after work that have nothing to do with me.)