But which one - SMS/RCS? iMessage? WhatsApp? Signal? Telegram? Discord?

CatMustard an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Funny, every time I've joined a new group for dancing or art classes or DnD or anything it's always 100% of the time a WhatsApp group, no questions asked. (This is in Ireland).

Never occurred to me that Americans wouldn't have a common group chat app everyone uses. Do Americans not all use iMessage, since pretty much everybody has an iPhone there?

	▲	ethersteeds 22 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Around 58% of American smartphone users are iPhone. It's a lot, but not enough to be universal. In my family there's 5 iPhone users and 4 Android users, amusingly similar to the national ratio. Apple has famously made its strategy to use iMessage to enforce exclusivity. If you want to reach everyone, it's not iMessage. And Whatsapp in the US is worse, closer to 1/3.
	▲	radiorental 34 minutes ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		>Do Americans not all use iMessage, since pretty much everybody has an iPhone there? I'm Irish and travel back and forth a lot. First, not everyone has iPhones, Android has 40% of the market. Older generations use Facebook to manage their clubs. I'm increasingly seeing Whatsapp and occasionally Signal for younger and more tech-savvy social circles. Facebook is non-existent in sub 35 year olds. Its just taking longer to switch over (or away from) Facebook given how tech savvy older folks are here compared to Ireland.
	▲	SoftTalker 33 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I'm probably the wrong person to answer since I don't and never have used any social media, but it seems like groups here mostly use Instagram. Or just iMessage with fallback to SMS for those not on iPhones. Unlike most of the rest of the world, iPhones dominate in the USA.

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bawolff 29 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think there is less cost to being in multiple chat platforms than multiple social media platforms.

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alexpotato 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Exactly this.

Plus the notifications for chat groups are basically:

- show me everything

- don't notify me at all

	▲	gregdaniels421 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Discord is a bit better about that with "pings"

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Symbiote 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

When I ran a student society we used an email mailing list.

You can have two if necessary, one only for announcements and one for discussion.

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soramimo 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

E-Mail! :)

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joe_mamba 42 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have messaging fatigue at this point (where I live).

- Doctors offices and official services use SMS.

- Some of my close family and friends use Signal (on my pressure).

- The distant boomers use Facebook Messenger

- With the younger people they use Snapchat.

- Almost everyone else in the country uses Whatsapp.

- Online communities for tinkering and foss projects require Discord.

God I miss the 2000s.

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erichocean 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Whatever the group owner picks, same as it's always been.

No one cares about the actual choice, only that it is made.

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tanseydavid an hour ago | parent [-]

> No one cares about the actual choice, only that it is made.

If the actual choice requires me to install an app then I care quite a lot and will probably decline to join in.

I don't think that I am the only one who feels this way.

	▲	bawolff 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Then life moves on without you in the club. Unless they are chosing something super obscure and sketchy, most club members are going to be fine with the leader just saying, we're picking whatsapp, either join or dont.