GChat Basically Owns Us And We're Okay With That

I want to say we live in the digital age but, duh, you already know that. But it still needs to be said: most of our communication now revolves around texting and social media. And GChat is the place we go during the day to talk to our friends. It becomes overwhelming at times: keeping up with all the open chats, making sure you type the right thing in the right place (God, the agony of sending a message to the wrong person. Cringe forever.), trying to find ways to make long stories short enough (omitting details you would normally speak out loud), and still somehow managing to get some work done through it all.

GChat itself, however, doesn't always diminish the quality of your friendships. Sometimes it's a fun way to just constantly be talking to people you like. You know how the saying goes: GChat all day, party all night. OK, I just made that up, but I can't help but predict that soon those are the kinds of idioms we'll be using. Obviously, sometimes online interactions are substitutions for face time (no, not FaceTime, you shameless technology addicts), but given that it's so easy to catch up with your friends digitally, does it matter? Once a upon a time, a friend we saw once a year was a friend we saw once a year. Now that friend is someone we see once a year AND GChat with on a regular basis. Which is to say: GChat can improve as many relationships as can can theoretically water down. Either way, the chatting tool has had a profound impact on the way our relationships function. Here are 4 things that happen when your friendships involve a lot of GChat.

1. YOU BECOME UNPRODUCTIVE

The more you GChat your friends, the less work you do. It's science. Time spent GChatting is time not spent working or doing whatever other productive thing needs to be done. GChat is the ultimate nemesis of a productive day. Your productivity is directly and inversely proportionate to how many GChat windows you have open.

2. YOU DISCOVER A NEW KIND OF SOCIAL ANXIETY

There's a new kind of social anxiety you feel from GChat It happens when you type something, send it, and the next person begins typing...and stops. You can see the elipsis in the chat that signifies they're typing something, but when that message takes too long to be sent or worse, IS NEVER SENT AT ALL, the anxiety is excuciating.

3. YOU COMPENSATE FOR FACE TIME

The more you GChat, the more you feel like you've caught up with people, and maybe will be less inclined to see them in the real world. That said, you're always going to (hopefully) make actual time for your friends. You just sometimes might feel like you have less reason to do so when you've already spent all day to them online.

4. YOU TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS CONSTANTLY

The best part of GChat is having the ability to be in constant contact with your friends, in particular, during the workday which is a difficult time to communicate via any of the other digital means we employ outside the workplace. (No one's boss is happy to see you on your phone every five seconds, or constantly on Facebook. At least Gmail can look productive!) One of my besties and I are able to easily inform each other of every poop, every meal, and every work stress as it occurs throughout the day. It's like hanging out without actually hanging out, and you can literally do it all day long.

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