GC Message Reload Update
Tonight some others (@ALeXaNdEr0712 , @Axtyn , @mysteriousClover) and myself had a long discussion on the update that allows you to reload previous messages in the group chats, with seemingly no limit to how far you can go back. I personally got back to Dec. 19 before giving up on trying to find and end to it. There is a lot of concerns that have been expressed by myself and by others. Some of these concerns are:
1. Lack of privacy/confidentiality- A lot of us display different levels of vulnerability depending on who is in the room at the time. As imperfect as it is, some of us have bad relationships and/or don't trust certain people on cups and do not want them to know everything about us. But with this update anyone can go back and see whatever you said at any day/time which removes the privacy and confidentiality in group chats.
2. Not feeling safe sharing in group chats anymore- As stated above, anyone at any time can see what you said no matter how long ago. A lot of us have really vulnerable and emotional moments in the group chats and now those moments are essentially permanently on display for everyone to see. It makes a lot of us feel unsafe about sharing in group chats.
3. Anyone being able to go back and access your previous links at any time- A lot of us send pictures whether it be of ourselves, art we've created, memes, objects we have/want. Those links are now always going to be accessible to anyone. I know that for myself personally, a lot of my artwork is very personal to me but there is a small group of trusted individuals within group chats who I'm comfortable sharing the artwork with. But now I cannot share it with even them, because anyone can reload the old messages, click on the link and see it.
4. Past triggering messages and conflicts never going away- With being able to reload old messages with no limit on how far back you can go, people will be able to go back to old conflicts which could re-spark the conflict if they see it and are upset by what was said. It makes moving on from conflict even harder and now it will never completely go away. Same for triggering messages, the wont go away which could cause a lot more people to become triggered in the group chats.
5. Trolling and harassment- There's always going to be trolls and harassment to some degree online. That's unavoidable. But the issue seems to be a lot more severe lately. And now trolls will be able to go back and see old conversations and better target other users. It also makes harassment much easier because there will always be access to things people have said.
Those are just a few concerns that come to mind immediately. I'm sure other people could think of other concerns as well too, though. I and many others simply do not find this update to be one that is comforting, safe or helpful. It instead is stress and anxiety inducing and causing a lot of us to feel like we cannot open up and receive support within the group chats anymore. I can't really find any reason for this to be more of a good idea than a bad idea. I'm sure the intentions behind it were good but the negative impact truly seems to be outweighing the positive intentions.
Tagging- @ASilentObserver , @Heather225 , @GlenM
