The Group Chat Could Be So Much More

So much of what we see out in public is the visible imprint of a group chat, which acts as both the connective tissue that holds it all together and the nervous system that animates it.

As far as how humans connect to one another, what’s next appears to be group chats and private messaging and forums, returning back to a time when we mostly just talked to the people we know. Maybe that’s a better, less problematic way to live life. Maybe feed and algorithms and the “global town square” were a bad idea. But I find myself desperatel... See more

Naturally, I think about digital spaces a lot. And as many of you know, I have basically dedicated my life to consumer internet. Particularly social. Lately, maybe because of working on Eternal. I’ve been thinking about the next set of digital spaces. And how we will have to design for a sense of depth on mobile.

I think this will happen at the 3 p... See more

# Group chats rule the world Most of the interesting conversations in tech now happen in private group chats: Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, small invite-only Discord groups. Being part of the right group chat can feel like having a peek at the kitchen of a restaurant but instead of food, messy ideas and gossip fly about in real time, get mixed, r... See more

Small Grouping = Friendship + Structured Focus + Intentional Culture Creation + A High Degree Of Realness. It's my sneaking suspicion that despite all our shiny new communications technology there remains a deep streak of loneliness hidden inside almost all of us. 

As with all things rooted in a group, group chats necessarily exclude even more than they include. All this whispering in digital ears requires someone — most of the world, in fact — to be on the outside. In one group chat I’m part of, members all had to approve the addition of a friend, because the dynamic had become so fixed that no one wanted to... See more