Someone in my group chat uses the 'tapback' reaction on every single message.
By @nicook2 · Internet
It's a group of about ten of us, mostly for making plans. One person, instead of typing 'ok' or 'sounds good,' just adds a thumbs-up or a heart reaction to every single message, and it's starting to get really distracting.
The full story
This is going to sound incredibly petty, I know. We have a group chat on iMessage with about ten friends. It's mostly for practical things, like figuring out who is free for dinner or coordinating for someone's birthday. It's not a super chatty, all-day kind of group. One person in the group has started using the tapback feature for literally everything. Someone will post 'Hey, movie night Friday at 7?' and instead of replying with words, this person will just 'like' the message. If someone says 'I can't make it,' they'll 'emphasize' it. Every single message gets a reaction. The issue is that for everyone else, this sends a separate notification. So instead of the chat being quiet until there's actual news, my phone is buzzing all day with 'So-and-so liked a message,' 'So-and-so emphasized a message.' It's not a real update, just... notification noise. It feels like the digital equivalent of someone nodding silently in the corner of a room after every sentence. It doesn't really add anything to the conversation, but you're constantly aware of it happening. I feel like I can't be the only one who finds this annoying, but I also feel like a total jerk for even thinking about bringing it up. How do you even say that? 'Hey, can you please stop... acknowledging messages?' It sounds ridiculous. At the same time, the whole point of a group chat is efficient communication, and this feels like the opposite. It's just constant, low-level static. I've muted the chat, but I still see the unread count go up for what turns out to be nothing. I'm torn between trying to ignore it and wondering if there's a polite way to address a minor tech habit that's genuinely driving me crazy.
How people voted
- Bad Move — 38% (47 votes)
- Needs Context — 31% (39 votes)
- Reasonable — 31% (39 votes)
Readers are split: “Bad Move” leads with 38% — 125 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@notreallybut — lmaooo
@vincekindof — Just call them if you need to know if they're coming to dinner.
@reallytho — Nah this would drive me crazy too, it feels so passive and clutters everything up!
@barelyhere — soft.
@vincemm — Can't you just turn off notifications for reactions in settings?