GroupMe... A Study In Community?

In thinking about the communities we will be tracking and some of the readings for this week, as well as the notifications on my phone, I began to think about GroupMe and the connections and conversations that occur there.

At first, I debated the "social media-ness" of GroupMe.  It is an App, and it is basically just a group text message (which, side note, remember when you couldn't have group text messages?).  There aren't ways, at least to my limited knowledge, to just join a random group of people or have conversations with "strangers" in the same way as you would on Twitter or something.  For the most part, you invite people to join your group, and text them like you would anyone else.

The difference, then, would be that again you create an identity within GroupMe.  You have your profile picture, the name of the group is also created, as well as a picture for that.  Each GroupMe conversation shares members, a gallery of artwork or memes that have been posted by members, you can add calendar events that sync with other calendars you share and GroupMe showcases the most popular posts in the conversation too.

I first joined a GroupMe in 2013 to have a good way to communicate directly with the students involved in planning Black History Month on campus.  I had seen students charging phones by noon due to their GroupMe activity, so was concerned to what I was getting into, but found with a manageable bunch of folks information is conveyed quickly and effectively, there are ways to acknowledge information is seen and received, and concrete ways to have conversations when everyone isn't in the same place.  I now have active GroupMes with the Executive Boards of all the groups that I advise, and have used in other professional settings as well.

It has been particularly interesting in the All Agency GroupMe, which they have creatively named.  The Directors and Assistant Directors of all the six student unions, as well as the Vice President, join in through this group.  The group functions to share information and ask questions, and I mostly lurk, tending to post just a few reminders or respond to questions when no one else does (or when I'm tagged and directly called out!).  What is most interesting is the community, dialogue, jokes, and engagement happening with this group, particularly as they have formed through their involvements with other organizations but also joined together.  It is clear that they are not only sharing information and engaging in conversations, but also becoming part of the group, relating and learning from each other, talking and acknowledging their intersectionality, and while not all of the thirteen participate in the same way, there is some participation from all of them.

This seems to be like a web 2.0 community, engaging online and through their phones (and if they don't download the App, through text message, although it seems like that would be overwhelming) and furthering the connections and bonds they have with each other through this networking and social connection.  I think it will be interesting to see how the group develops - both through community social media constructs and also through the group development models.  Perhaps they are more tightly creating bonds that have existed, or perhaps, the connection through the GroupMe allows them to interact and converse in ways they wouldn't face-to-face.

Here's an article that explains GroupMe a little bit more too: http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/9212/1031/Your_Real_Life_Network_How_GroupMe_Lets_You_Create#.VZVpwlVVhBc