What do people do in chat apps?
September 24, 2015 10:39 AM Subscribe
By some estimates there are a billion chat messages sent per day worldwide. What are people doing in there?
I guess it's things like hooking up and organising school pickups and nights out and talking about sports and what have you, but whatever I search for though I seem to end up in ads for SEO sites. Is there any research out there that would help me, or any organisations that look into this? I'm aware of the Pew surveys but I haven't been able to find one that covers what I'm looking for.
Even if you don't know any research sources, I would also be interested in anecdata on what you personally use chat apps for (if you use them).
Thanks!
I guess it's things like hooking up and organising school pickups and nights out and talking about sports and what have you, but whatever I search for though I seem to end up in ads for SEO sites. Is there any research out there that would help me, or any organisations that look into this? I'm aware of the Pew surveys but I haven't been able to find one that covers what I'm looking for.
Even if you don't know any research sources, I would also be interested in anecdata on what you personally use chat apps for (if you use them).
Thanks!
Best answer: Remember what you used to do on the phone? It's that stuff. Like 90 percent of my online chatting is something that a decade ago I would have picked up a phone and asked or told someone.
"work running late. can u pick up kids"
"where is the document" "almost done" "okay sent"
"lunch at harrys?" "sure but i have to be back early"
posted by Etrigan at 10:45 AM on September 24, 2015 [10 favorites]
"work running late. can u pick up kids"
"where is the document" "almost done" "okay sent"
"lunch at harrys?" "sure but i have to be back early"
posted by Etrigan at 10:45 AM on September 24, 2015 [10 favorites]
Best answer: I'm a little confused about your question. How are you doing these searches? I think your problem might be that most more personal chats are going to be private, and public rooms that anyone can search through could be more likely to include spammy stuff.
For myself personally: exchanging everything from sweet nothings to grocery lists to "check out this cool article I saw" with my husband; doing a weekly writing accountability check-in with a co-worker in a different office; keeping up with friends located across the country on everything from what TV shows we're watching to complaints about work and public transit (i.e. boring stuff we would talk about in person except we don't live in the same city)
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:46 AM on September 24, 2015
For myself personally: exchanging everything from sweet nothings to grocery lists to "check out this cool article I saw" with my husband; doing a weekly writing accountability check-in with a co-worker in a different office; keeping up with friends located across the country on everything from what TV shows we're watching to complaints about work and public transit (i.e. boring stuff we would talk about in person except we don't live in the same city)
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:46 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: At work, I almost entirely communicate via our chat program, because that way, I can keep up about 20 conversations and answer questions while I'm doing other things.
Personally, I use chat programs to talk to people I know all over the world as I'm doing other things, like watching TV or surfing the web or whatever.
posted by xingcat at 10:47 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Personally, I use chat programs to talk to people I know all over the world as I'm doing other things, like watching TV or surfing the web or whatever.
posted by xingcat at 10:47 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I have several group message threads that exist over Facebook and text that get revived for anything with group logistics (hey does everyone wanna do dinner, etc etc) to just random stuff we come across.
posted by KernalM at 10:51 AM on September 24, 2015
posted by KernalM at 10:51 AM on September 24, 2015
I'm guessing you mean something like whatsApp.
1. People who don't have unlimited texting use it instead of sending text messages
2. Chatting with friends who live in other countries to avoid incurring a fee for texting an international phone number
3. Chatting in groups (before "multi texts" were common)
posted by pravit at 10:52 AM on September 24, 2015
1. People who don't have unlimited texting use it instead of sending text messages
2. Chatting with friends who live in other countries to avoid incurring a fee for texting an international phone number
3. Chatting in groups (before "multi texts" were common)
posted by pravit at 10:52 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: Having long inane conversations with groups of friends who are spread over long distances.
Making sure said friends have seen the meme/tumblr post/image macro that appeals to me at this moment.
Planning parties.
Planning dinner.
Keeping in contact with my husband about what the baby/cat/doctor/dentist/insurance company just did/said/ate.
Attempting to help relatives use the video chat function so that they may observe the baby in her natural environment.
That one friend where he and I mostly just recommend books to each other with a high degree of enthusiasm.
posted by Adridne at 10:53 AM on September 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Making sure said friends have seen the meme/tumblr post/image macro that appeals to me at this moment.
Planning parties.
Planning dinner.
Keeping in contact with my husband about what the baby/cat/doctor/dentist/insurance company just did/said/ate.
Attempting to help relatives use the video chat function so that they may observe the baby in her natural environment.
That one friend where he and I mostly just recommend books to each other with a high degree of enthusiasm.
posted by Adridne at 10:53 AM on September 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: At work, we all use an instant messaging system (Microsoft Lync) to ask work process questions of people who can be across the room or across the country. That, and to send cat pictures and memes back and forth. It keeps the office quieter and means you don't have to go to someone's desk to consult them.
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:54 AM on September 24, 2015
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:54 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: Judging from the shared group I share on whatsapp with my mum, aunt and brother?
1. Cat pics.
2. Random abuse of each other.
3. Intrusive questions about my personal life from elders.
4. Forwarded crappy jokes, inspirational quotes and non-english jokes (we speak a second language).
5. Begging my mum to make specific food items when we go home.
6. Jokes at my expense.
posted by gadha at 10:56 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
1. Cat pics.
2. Random abuse of each other.
3. Intrusive questions about my personal life from elders.
4. Forwarded crappy jokes, inspirational quotes and non-english jokes (we speak a second language).
5. Begging my mum to make specific food items when we go home.
6. Jokes at my expense.
posted by gadha at 10:56 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: To clarify by 'chat apps' I mean things like WhatsApp, Viber, Line, Telgram, Facebook Messenger and so on.
By 'search for' I meant 'search for research' about what people use those apps for, not searching for actual private chat content.
Thanks for answers so far!
posted by StephenF at 11:01 AM on September 24, 2015
By 'search for' I meant 'search for research' about what people use those apps for, not searching for actual private chat content.
Thanks for answers so far!
posted by StephenF at 11:01 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: A lot of companies probably still use those apps for work related chatter too. Back in the day we lived on AIM at work. Today we have Hipchat and Slack, but I'll bet a lot of companies are still using free services like FB Messenger to communicate internally throughout he day.
posted by COD at 11:05 AM on September 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by COD at 11:05 AM on September 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I use Pidgin on my work computer, usually to chat with my sister (who lives hundreds of miles away).
She sends me lists of books she thinks I would like, I send her videos of my cat pawing at the water in the toilet bowl. We reminisce about our mom and plan fabulous trips to Las Vegas and The Abba Museum.
She's basically my coworker, except she's in another state.
posted by Lucinda at 11:09 AM on September 24, 2015
She sends me lists of books she thinks I would like, I send her videos of my cat pawing at the water in the toilet bowl. We reminisce about our mom and plan fabulous trips to Las Vegas and The Abba Museum.
She's basically my coworker, except she's in another state.
posted by Lucinda at 11:09 AM on September 24, 2015
"Chat" is not the same thing as "multi-person chat rooms". Most of the chatting that goes on these days is one-person to one-person, i.e. it's like text messaging with some additional features.
posted by alms at 11:15 AM on September 24, 2015
posted by alms at 11:15 AM on September 24, 2015
Honestly a billion seems crazy low to me. Just one of the conversations I had yesterday was like 70 messages.
Okay yeah, in January apparently whatsapp users were sending 30 billion messages a day.
There's so many different chat programs and protocols that it's extremely difficult to estimate of how much people chat in total. I'm currently on 8 different chat systems, none of which you mentioned.
posted by aubilenon at 11:16 AM on September 24, 2015
Okay yeah, in January apparently whatsapp users were sending 30 billion messages a day.
There's so many different chat programs and protocols that it's extremely difficult to estimate of how much people chat in total. I'm currently on 8 different chat systems, none of which you mentioned.
posted by aubilenon at 11:16 AM on September 24, 2015
Response by poster: Oh yikes sorry that's a type in the question, good catch aubilenon - it's a HUNDRED billion.
Re your answer, can you clarify why you are on so many different systems, or what sort of things you use them for? (No worries if you'd rather not.)
posted by StephenF at 11:22 AM on September 24, 2015
Re your answer, can you clarify why you are on so many different systems, or what sort of things you use them for? (No worries if you'd rather not.)
posted by StephenF at 11:22 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: Apparently, based on a random snapshot, I use chat apps for covering:
1) What's for dinner?
2) Trivia league daily updates/trash talk
3) Pictures of kids to grandmas
4) Balls: are they the boobs of men? (no.)
5) Hey, did you talk to that other coworker about the thing?
6) I promise to finish that one business case soon.
7) My underpants have shipped!
I'm impressed with anyone who can get a critical mass of friends/colleagues on anything other than SMS, though.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:24 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
1) What's for dinner?
2) Trivia league daily updates/trash talk
3) Pictures of kids to grandmas
4) Balls: are they the boobs of men? (no.)
5) Hey, did you talk to that other coworker about the thing?
6) I promise to finish that one business case soon.
7) My underpants have shipped!
I'm impressed with anyone who can get a critical mass of friends/colleagues on anything other than SMS, though.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:24 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I use chat apps to make the world a little smaller. Sometimes it is to send a link to my kids at college, sometimes it is to confirm my friend will bring the bourbon and will be on time, or sometimes it is to respond to a colleague's ask. Everyday communication with people who are not in close proximity to me at the time I use it. (I have also texted the person sitting next to me so that the rest of the folks in the room would not hear it. Learned that from my kids in the car.) I use mms on my phone, hangouts, and whatsapp.
posted by AugustWest at 11:37 AM on September 24, 2015
posted by AugustWest at 11:37 AM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: In the last few hours, I've WhatsApp'd one friend talking about my current house search and rearranging weekend plans, talked house stuff + exchanged cute dog pictures with another friend, and I've also sent a bunch of messages to my sister (house search + future vacation plans + discussion about our mother), my partner (house stuff plus logistics - he's getting back late from a camping trip) and my mother (house stuff, stuff about my health situation).
All in all, that's 80 messages (including replies) in the last two or three hours.
I think one behavioural component that makes the hundred billion number plausible is that people (at least, me and the people I know) tend to split each separate thought/part of the paragraph into a separate message instead of sending a long block of prose. This also seems to be a generational thing - my mother is more likely to type out a long single message on her phone, whereas my sister and I will do the rapid-fire chat style thing.
An example from one of my message threads talking to my partner about our housing situation (each line is a single message):
>[coupley greeting]
>The place with the big garden looked great so I've applied for it and paid the deposit
>They'll email you a tenancy reference form at some point
>We can move in early November
>If you want to see it again before then we can have a second viewing
>I talked to them about the credit check and it sounds good
>So that's nice
It's a notable behavioural difference to the way some other communication methods are used, maybe influenced by the fact that SMS has a character limit, or by familiarity with the IM style of communication, or character-limited platforms like Twitter. If I'd been sending the above in an email, I'd have done it in one paragraph as prose. Which requires more effort than just blurting out your thoughts as they come, so I can see why this format is popular.
posted by terretu at 11:40 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
All in all, that's 80 messages (including replies) in the last two or three hours.
I think one behavioural component that makes the hundred billion number plausible is that people (at least, me and the people I know) tend to split each separate thought/part of the paragraph into a separate message instead of sending a long block of prose. This also seems to be a generational thing - my mother is more likely to type out a long single message on her phone, whereas my sister and I will do the rapid-fire chat style thing.
An example from one of my message threads talking to my partner about our housing situation (each line is a single message):
>[coupley greeting]
>The place with the big garden looked great so I've applied for it and paid the deposit
>They'll email you a tenancy reference form at some point
>We can move in early November
>If you want to see it again before then we can have a second viewing
>I talked to them about the credit check and it sounds good
>So that's nice
It's a notable behavioural difference to the way some other communication methods are used, maybe influenced by the fact that SMS has a character limit, or by familiarity with the IM style of communication, or character-limited platforms like Twitter. If I'd been sending the above in an email, I'd have done it in one paragraph as prose. Which requires more effort than just blurting out your thoughts as they come, so I can see why this format is popular.
posted by terretu at 11:40 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Re your answer, can you clarify why you are on so many different systems, or what sort of things you use them for? (No worries if you'd rather not.)
The short version is that it's easier than trying to find a single system that everyone I want to talk to is on. And I'm old so I've accumulated a bunch of chat contacts over the years from different systems.
So, I'm using one client to connect to four networks - some are kind of obsolete, but it's still easier to have it connect to y! messenger than it is to re-connect with that handful of people through some other more up-to-date medium. Then there's three work systems: the corporate one, the one engineers should be using, and the one engineers are actually using. And finally I'm on IRC.
I'm not counting stuff like iMessage or twitter DM, though I guess I'm technically available by those too.
posted by aubilenon at 12:11 PM on September 24, 2015
The short version is that it's easier than trying to find a single system that everyone I want to talk to is on. And I'm old so I've accumulated a bunch of chat contacts over the years from different systems.
So, I'm using one client to connect to four networks - some are kind of obsolete, but it's still easier to have it connect to y! messenger than it is to re-connect with that handful of people through some other more up-to-date medium. Then there's three work systems: the corporate one, the one engineers should be using, and the one engineers are actually using. And finally I'm on IRC.
I'm not counting stuff like iMessage or twitter DM, though I guess I'm technically available by those too.
posted by aubilenon at 12:11 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: I use WhatsApp for various group chats:
- people I play boardgames with to organise game nights
- family in different combinations (siblings, siblings + parents, etc)
And also for sending photos to people since MMS costs money whereas WhatsApp data os included in my phone plan.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:44 PM on September 24, 2015
- people I play boardgames with to organise game nights
- family in different combinations (siblings, siblings + parents, etc)
And also for sending photos to people since MMS costs money whereas WhatsApp data os included in my phone plan.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:44 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: I use whatsapp to txt international friends for free about the same things I would text any of my local friends about: a dog I just saw, how cute it was, what its name was, how many times did I pet it, look here is a photo of me petting this dog. Also to complain about the weather, assuming we are in the same hemisphere. Lately it's mostly to make fun of tory pigfucking. If I use a regular txt msgs for these vitally important random witterings it might cost them $1.50 or more each time. I don't want to do that to my friends. And it's really important that they see how cute the dog was.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:51 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 12:51 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hello, I'm a dinosaur. I don't have a smartphone, so I don't use apps. I do use messenger software on my laptop.
I use ICQ because I'm old skool like that, and still have friends who use it too. But I don't use their software, just their server and protocol. I use Miranda IM which is a multi-protocol messenger programme.
I also use Gchat through Miranda, because not all of my contacts are on ICQ. Miranda also handles IRC, which I mostly use for chatrooms like Metafilter Chat and my hackerspace's IRC channel.
Many of the messages I exchange with single persons (as opposed to being in a chat room) are more or less practical in nature. What time will you be home, what do you think of the file that I emailed you, can you help me with this or that?
But there are also jokes, general catching up, interesting links and other banter.
The hackerspace channel is much the same. Metafilter chat is, well... why don't you come in and see for yourself?
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:09 PM on September 24, 2015
I use ICQ because I'm old skool like that, and still have friends who use it too. But I don't use their software, just their server and protocol. I use Miranda IM which is a multi-protocol messenger programme.
I also use Gchat through Miranda, because not all of my contacts are on ICQ. Miranda also handles IRC, which I mostly use for chatrooms like Metafilter Chat and my hackerspace's IRC channel.
Many of the messages I exchange with single persons (as opposed to being in a chat room) are more or less practical in nature. What time will you be home, what do you think of the file that I emailed you, can you help me with this or that?
But there are also jokes, general catching up, interesting links and other banter.
The hackerspace channel is much the same. Metafilter chat is, well... why don't you come in and see for yourself?
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:09 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: FWIW I use chat apps (mostly Google Talk and Facebook Messenger) to send messages to friends in my browser from my laptop or desktop because I have a form of dyslexia that means texting is basically impossible for me.
My last three outbound messages to three different people were:
* Let me know if you set a time for the meeting with Kim
* What about this bowtie for Dogname? (with a link)
* Are you OK or no?
posted by DarlingBri at 2:12 PM on September 24, 2015
My last three outbound messages to three different people were:
* Let me know if you set a time for the meeting with Kim
* What about this bowtie for Dogname? (with a link)
* Are you OK or no?
posted by DarlingBri at 2:12 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: We mostly use them for chatting. But I find that different people use different apps for different reasons.
Snapchat: for image-augmented chatting, especially of the high-security variety (you can send sexually explicit photos in a low stakes way)
WhatsApp: for group-texts, especially among people who don't have unlimited texting as part of their cellular plan.
Facebook Messenger: for communicating with people whose phone number you might not have. Also, not sure if this is typical use but my boyfriend and I default to Facebook Messenger over texting for the same reasons a lot of people use WhatsApp (we can chat endless drivel to each other all day without running the risk of going over our allotted number of messages). Another added benefit is that you can jump from platform to platform while maintaining the same conversation. One person can send a message from their computer, which the receiver can engage with from their phone, and then if the situation reverses you can just keep going without having to initiate a new conversation in a different app.
posted by Sara C. at 2:48 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Snapchat: for image-augmented chatting, especially of the high-security variety (you can send sexually explicit photos in a low stakes way)
WhatsApp: for group-texts, especially among people who don't have unlimited texting as part of their cellular plan.
Facebook Messenger: for communicating with people whose phone number you might not have. Also, not sure if this is typical use but my boyfriend and I default to Facebook Messenger over texting for the same reasons a lot of people use WhatsApp (we can chat endless drivel to each other all day without running the risk of going over our allotted number of messages). Another added benefit is that you can jump from platform to platform while maintaining the same conversation. One person can send a message from their computer, which the receiver can engage with from their phone, and then if the situation reverses you can just keep going without having to initiate a new conversation in a different app.
posted by Sara C. at 2:48 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I run Adium and connect to 5 different servers/services. Right now I'm in 25 group chats and 18 personal chat. I receive 2000-5000 messages/day, most of which I don't read.
The majority of these chats are for a video game I play that rewards large-scale organization (EVE Online). Here are some examples of these group chats and what they are for:
- Announce Bot. A one-on-one chat with a bot that relays important messages. If you need to announce something, you send the bot a message and it forwards it to the right users. Sending it through the bot means people have all their most important announcements in a single chat.
- Corp chat. A group chat of all the people in my corp (think: World of Warcraft guild). Mostly social chit-chat.
- Corp mgmt. A group chat of important people in my corp where we discuss the logistics of running the corp, problems with line members, planning, etc.
- Alliance chat. Same as corp chat, except with all the people in my alliance (affiliated group of corps).
- Corp directors. Group chat of management people from all the corps in the alliance. If you have a problem with a member of a different corp, your corp management goes here to bug their corp management. Also some alliance-level policy is discussed here.
- Retired friends. A Slack group for people that used to play EVE with us, but quit the game or switched to a different alliance. Our alliance jabber server syncs with the EVE game servers for auth, so ex-members can't join the main server. That's why this group is on Slack.
- Supercaps. A group chat for alliance members with supercapital characters. This is a separate group for security. There people who apply for access are heavily scrutinized before they're allowed in.
- Coders. Social group for alliance members to chat about programming stuff. Generally not EVE-related.
- ISK Chat. Talking about how to make money in the game. When the game devs announce game changes, we live-blog it in this channel (like pres debates in mefi).
- Scouts. Low security group for scouts that fly around in the game and report interesting things. If there's a big battle planned, scouts will follow the hostile fleets around and report on their location and size.
- Recon. High security group for scouting. Members are vetted like in the supercap group. Coordinates with the scouts in the scouts channel.
- Locators. When someone in the alliance wants to know where a friendly or hostile character is in the game, they ask here. A handful of people have trained the special requirements to do locates and will run the name and report the location. Especially helpful for scouts and recon.
So that's about half my EVE channels. Many of the things listed above are duplicated again at the coalition level (an organized group of cooperating alliances). Part of the duplication is the alliance and the coalition run their own IT infrastructure, so they have their own servers. But there's also a distinction between local and regional coordination. Small local stuff gets talked about in alliance channels and maybe doesn't propagate to the coalition channels because it's not relevant to neighboring alliances, only us.
Note that I'm in EVE middle management. The people at the top have even more channels. (You know you're in alliance management when you have vertical tabs enabled and your 1440p screen isn't tall enough to show them all.)
All this is for just one video game. It seems crazy, but if you've ever wondered why Goons are the largest, most successful group in EVE, this is why.
posted by ryanrs at 3:27 PM on September 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
The majority of these chats are for a video game I play that rewards large-scale organization (EVE Online). Here are some examples of these group chats and what they are for:
- Announce Bot. A one-on-one chat with a bot that relays important messages. If you need to announce something, you send the bot a message and it forwards it to the right users. Sending it through the bot means people have all their most important announcements in a single chat.
- Corp chat. A group chat of all the people in my corp (think: World of Warcraft guild). Mostly social chit-chat.
- Corp mgmt. A group chat of important people in my corp where we discuss the logistics of running the corp, problems with line members, planning, etc.
- Alliance chat. Same as corp chat, except with all the people in my alliance (affiliated group of corps).
- Corp directors. Group chat of management people from all the corps in the alliance. If you have a problem with a member of a different corp, your corp management goes here to bug their corp management. Also some alliance-level policy is discussed here.
- Retired friends. A Slack group for people that used to play EVE with us, but quit the game or switched to a different alliance. Our alliance jabber server syncs with the EVE game servers for auth, so ex-members can't join the main server. That's why this group is on Slack.
- Supercaps. A group chat for alliance members with supercapital characters. This is a separate group for security. There people who apply for access are heavily scrutinized before they're allowed in.
- Coders. Social group for alliance members to chat about programming stuff. Generally not EVE-related.
- ISK Chat. Talking about how to make money in the game. When the game devs announce game changes, we live-blog it in this channel (like pres debates in mefi).
- Scouts. Low security group for scouts that fly around in the game and report interesting things. If there's a big battle planned, scouts will follow the hostile fleets around and report on their location and size.
- Recon. High security group for scouting. Members are vetted like in the supercap group. Coordinates with the scouts in the scouts channel.
- Locators. When someone in the alliance wants to know where a friendly or hostile character is in the game, they ask here. A handful of people have trained the special requirements to do locates and will run the name and report the location. Especially helpful for scouts and recon.
So that's about half my EVE channels. Many of the things listed above are duplicated again at the coalition level (an organized group of cooperating alliances). Part of the duplication is the alliance and the coalition run their own IT infrastructure, so they have their own servers. But there's also a distinction between local and regional coordination. Small local stuff gets talked about in alliance channels and maybe doesn't propagate to the coalition channels because it's not relevant to neighboring alliances, only us.
Note that I'm in EVE middle management. The people at the top have even more channels. (You know you're in alliance management when you have vertical tabs enabled and your 1440p screen isn't tall enough to show them all.)
All this is for just one video game. It seems crazy, but if you've ever wondered why Goons are the largest, most successful group in EVE, this is why.
posted by ryanrs at 3:27 PM on September 24, 2015 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Sexting.
And general chit chat with people in other countries.
posted by Katine at 3:29 PM on September 24, 2015
And general chit chat with people in other countries.
posted by Katine at 3:29 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: In addition to all of the above (currently active chats are 1. Husband 2. Group of 4 friends 3. BFF 4-10. Work related).
I frequently use chat to chat with people that I'm on a conference call with. "Did that vendor just say we are doing X, I thought we were doing Y? Why is this call going on so long? Shoot me now. Etc."
I get a lot of work done over chat too, solve problems with one person and then shoot out an email to everybody with the solution we worked out.
posted by magnetsphere at 3:34 PM on September 24, 2015
I frequently use chat to chat with people that I'm on a conference call with. "Did that vendor just say we are doing X, I thought we were doing Y? Why is this call going on so long? Shoot me now. Etc."
I get a lot of work done over chat too, solve problems with one person and then shoot out an email to everybody with the solution we worked out.
posted by magnetsphere at 3:34 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: I'm a developer on a multi-location, multi-time zone team. I use chat apps a lot at work, chiefly HipChat these days. Various teams have chat rooms where people post notices, ask questions, discuss problems, especially when it's not obvious who might know the answer. Also some one-on-one conversations with colleagues, especially quick/unscheduled ones. Longer conversations we tend to use video, mostly Skype, so some chatting occurs on Skype as well.
posted by mr vino at 3:40 PM on September 24, 2015
posted by mr vino at 3:40 PM on September 24, 2015
Best answer: My distributed workplace also runs on Slack, and even coworkers in the same physical location are encouraged to keep discussion in chat so everyone has a shared context. It's amazing. It's like what I've done for years to keep up with friends across the city and country, just in a work context (and with the best search capabilities to augment institutional memory).
For me, it's the most intuitive way of working—and something I never imagined would be possible back on that summer day at the turn of the century when, sitting on a university quad before class, I asked my teen crush to have an in-person conversation with me on paper. Even then, I was at my best in writing, with all its subtle nuances and dialects (including emoji).
🍕
posted by limeonaire at 6:50 PM on September 24, 2015
For me, it's the most intuitive way of working—and something I never imagined would be possible back on that summer day at the turn of the century when, sitting on a university quad before class, I asked my teen crush to have an in-person conversation with me on paper. Even then, I was at my best in writing, with all its subtle nuances and dialects (including emoji).
🍕
posted by limeonaire at 6:50 PM on September 24, 2015
this is also a thing people use whatsapp for
posted by poffin boffin at 9:27 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:27 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: It's also possible that some amount of those chat messages aren't from to or from a person. My company uses chat apps to facilitate computer-computer communication across different networks. It is clever but there is no reason to believe it is unique.
posted by meowzilla at 11:05 AM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by meowzilla at 11:05 AM on September 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I use Line to chat with two friends about our kids and a shared hobby, plus a bit of gossip and photos of attractive people. We switched to it from Facebook messenger because we kept nearly including the wrong people in the message threads -- Facebook makes it too easy to do that. One of us is only on a computer, one of us is only on a phone, one of us switches back and forth, so using Line is easier and faster than e-mail or texting.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:01 PM on September 29, 2015
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:01 PM on September 29, 2015
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As for what they're used for: The entire panoply of human communication. You may as well ask what I personally use the English language for.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:45 AM on September 24, 2015 [3 favorites]