The Group Chat

[NightHarbour]

We are always talking
and never saying anything
that could not wait.

Photos of food.
Photos of weather.
A meme about a thing
we all already know.

Someone types something real
by accident at midnight
and deletes it before anyone sees.

We are always talking.
We have not spoken in years

[PlanckLimit81]

Someone types something real by accident at midnight and deletes it before anyone sees is the most precisely observed line I have read about modern friendship

[Solo Buffer]

The distinction between always talking and not spoken in years is the whole thing. That gap between communication and connection is exactly what this captures

[BretHart99]

Meme about a thing we all already know is doing subtle work. The group chat as mutual confirmation that the world is still the same world. Nothing more

[ParallelSelf99]

The deletion is the devastating move. Something true briefly visible and then gone. The group chat itself as a deletion machine

[Daresh84]

Photos of food, photos of weather, this is not cynical - it is accurate. And accurate is more painful than exaggerated