IB group chats and group chat etiquette

[evanz.h]

Its kinda dumb that I actually have to start a discussion about this, but our group chat of all IB diploma students in our grade is slowly falling apart. The main cause is the fact that we have two separate Chem classes and French classes proceeding at different paces and also Physics and Bio classes. Now someone with any extent of common sense would say that there should be separate group chats for each of the classes so that each chat is on topic and that half of the students in the big chat aren't being excluded every time someone wants to discuss class-specific topics. But my Chem teacher was right, common sense is not a common thing! When I noticed people talking about other classes I kindly reminded them that they should make their own group chat for the reasons stated above but all I got was an angry mob accusing me of spamming and starting arguments. They claim that since this is an IB group chat they can talk about whatever they want as long as it is IB-related even though the group chat was initially formed for Math, English, and History, the classes that everyone has together. Now my question is, what do YOU think is ethical in this case? (crap this is starting to sound like TOK) Is it the right thing to limit what is being said in the large conversation to topics that everyone can relate to and create sub-group chats for the other subjects or am I completely out of my mind?

[kw0573]

The solution is to find a way so that multiple conversations can happen within one group of people. An easy way to implement is to add a facebook group so people can comment on posts pertaining to them so they only receive notification on a new post, not comments to a post they are not interested in. 

[evanz.h]

4 minutes ago, kw0573 said:

add a facebook group

Ha that's funny because I initially suggested that when the problem became apparent. And not surprisingly I was in the minority for suggesting that. We did make one eventually, however no one except a select few of us actually check facebook so it's been just a casual IB memes page.

[kw0573]

When I was in IB, competing social media platforms such as snapchat, instagram were not nearly as prevalent so everyone would check facebook. Many of my high school classmates were from just a couple of elementary schools so everyone was comfortable with talking to each other and this system was efficient. If your classmates are not interested in having such a group then whenever you have questions you can just ask people good at those subjects. 

[evanz.h]

Well they do want a group but they don't seem too keen to solve the problems that lie within the medium of communication. I just try to do what I can to help create an effective system but I'm usually just hit with something to the lines of "just live with it" and zero effort to resolve the issues. I thought IB students were supposed to be problem solvers? How can anyone change the world if their attitude is to "just live with it"?  

[kw0573]

Hi I gave you my suggestions and I don't want to unnecessarily drag this out too much. Here are my final thoughts:

I don't believe communication to be an end product or a goal. It is just a means. That is, the goal should be to get good grades and get into a good school. It is possible that with an efficient medium of communication, you and others can get better grades, but surely it is not the only way. If anything, the challenge is to overcome the fact that there is not a group, by finding an alternative solution.

For example in late 19th century London, there was a problem with horse manure stench in the streets, because of how prevalent horse carriages are. The stench ceased as a result of boom of automobiles. Rather than imposing strict regulations and penalties, an alternative mode of transportation solved this old problem, albeit bringing new ones.

So I would suggest that if you cannot count on the collective of your peers, you can count on few individuals such as top-performing classmates or your teachers. The drawback is that you need to carefully plan out when you should approach them so they are available. It takes effort on your part, but certainly less effort than getting an entire grade to do exactly what you want. 

 

[evanz.h]

Thanks for your input, really appreciate it!