Group Chat Chateau!
There’s been a lot of talk about something called “friendships” going around lately. They seem to be all the rage, but what are they, really? How do they work? To many of us, they’ve remained something of a mystery. Until now.
Ok, I’ll stop doing this bit where I pretend to be a 60 Minutes anchor explaining something that doesn’t really need an explanation. HOWEVER, I do think that adult friendships ARE kind of mysterious sometimes. I also think they are so worth pursuing and maintaining, despite the aforementioned mysteriousness! And, I think that knowing where to start can be a little daunting. UNTIL NOW!
You asked for it! So, back by popular demand, it’s an old-fashioned BPIDHB Group Chat Comment Section Mixer. A Group Chat Chateau!
If you are looking to join a group chat, maybe because you’ve never tried it, maybe because you have and your chat has sort of fizzled or maybe you’re a member of a healthy chat, but feel like your life has room for a fresh one, this is the place!
There are no rules, really, but this is my advice. Leave a comment below with your name, your general location if you feel comfortable sharing that information, your career/family/lifestyle info if that’s important to you, plus a couple/few things you’re really interested in or passionate about that you’d love to gab about with some new friends.
Once you’ve done that, start reading the other comments and introduce yourself to some other Besties with whom you have some stuff in common. OR, introduce yourself to some other Besties with whom you have zero in common, but would like to learn a little bit about that which they proclaimed their passions. Not every person I’m in a group chat with is a Prince-freak, but they let me bring my personal Prince-freakishness to the party, y’know?
Once you have 3 or 4 or 7 people in the comments whose vibes jibe, you can mutually to take it to the next level. Maybe you all decide to meet in the DMs over on Instagram or FB. Maybe you exchange emails. One of my group chats uses the Signal app for some reason, but it’s not hard to use, so I go along with it! But, once you all feel secure and safe with each other, maybe you exchange phone numbers and make it a real, official, traditional group chat where you simply text each other & gently ridicule the person who has an android phone & turns your chat bubbles from blue to green.
I know it can be scary, to just…ask someone to like you. And, it might not work out. That’s just the truth. But, it might. And the only way it even has a chance of working out is if you can summon the bravery to say “Hi, I see you. Do you see me too?” to at least a few folks. Low risk, high reward.
All that we ask is that you be kind and respectful to each other. If you see someone’s comment that isn’t getting a lot of play, maybe ask if they’d like to join a group you’ve already got simmering? It kinda works exactly like high school lunch tables, except with the benefit of us all having lived through high school lunch tables & knowing how important it is to make room for someone who could use a place to sit.
We’ve had a lot of success with this in the past. And we’re so proud of some of the now years-long friendships we’ve had a hand in encouraging. This is the first time we’re trying it on Substack, so fingers crossed it launches dozens of group chats and pal-pairings that will live on for years to come.
Hi besties! The group chats I were in fizzled out and I would love to be in one again. Bonus points if it was with other Los Angeles folks and were interested in meeting up in person, but not a dealbreaker! I’m 34, very single (😂) and always looking for friends to talk about trashy TV shows, books, and wishing we got Taylor Swift tickets. I work in higher education but also have years of experience in nonprofit work and always love connecting with people in the field.
Hi there..will you be my friend!? 😆 My friend making abilities have always been marginal. I am a bit of an introvert, and work from home, so after the pandemic I have grown slightly feral. My name is Melanie, I am in my 50’s, and I can’t believe most of my life is behind me. I am a blue voter who lives in north Georgia (deep sigh) and I don’t have any in person friends here. My hubs and I sold our house last year and bought 10 acres, and we are full time RV-ing while we are building our new house.
If you’re still here, I am an executive for a large malpractice carrier, and I love talking about books, trashy tv (I watch a lot, music, poetry, politics. I also have an adult son who has PTSD from serving in Iraq, and he is an addict in recovery, so I would love to connect with anyone who is going through this. It can be very isolating dealing with addiction in family members.