Whatsapp Groups: Pub Chat Lives On

What's your favourite Whatsapp group?

Over Covid and lockdown, many people found comfort in Whatsapp groups. It was a way to deal with isolation or the ridiculous situation we found ourselves in. Or perhaps it was to find comfort in what were extremely frightening times.

I've managed to avoid the kids' school Whatsapp groups. I try to stay clear of anything with too many posts or anywhere people get emotional, angry or argumentative. I leave groups where essay writing is the norm.

I have a few favourites. The common theme is schoolboy humour. My favourite is 'Harbros' - a small group of men I grew up with my home town, Market Harborough. The topics include: the worst movie concepts, jokes, a few memories and occasionally major life updates.

The only time this would ever occur is if someone had had a baby, they were very sick or someone had died. The rest of it is monkeying around. The jokes aren't smutty - they're just really silly. Kind of how we were when we were 15.

What I love about this group is there is never really much need for people to tell each other how they feel. We are drowned by this and we all kind of know how it's going anyway. But when there is trouble, everyone steps in to help out. Otherwise, it's back to jokes and stupid ideas.

80s and 90s movies are of great importance to the group because we all grew up idolising action heroes. The video rental shop was core to the culture. We watched movies at each other's houses - and because of what we watched, we learned sports, joined karate classes, worked the same weekend jobs and went underage drinking - together.

Even now on the group, we talk about low-wattage movies that somehow got budget to be made. One of our group - I know for sure - watches these just to ensure he's not missing out on something good.

The latest reviews include:

And:

Today's conversation was about the price of Pokemon cards - and how suddenly every kid is asking for them. None of us understand this, but the policeman in the group tells us there is a market for black market fakes, which are making people a fortune.

Last year, after 17 years, we all managed to meet for lunch. One of the Harbros lives in Australia, so this was extra special. This would never have happened without Whatsapp. Sure - we'd seen each one-to-one, but not like this.

Four of the group run their own businesses - and when we met up, we found so many similarities in our business journeys.

I feel extremely lucky to have this group - and a few others like it. We grew up on an appetite of silly jokes, embarrassing tales and pop culture filled with aspiration and hope. This group represents everything I loved about that time and reminds me of who I am today.

Have a great weekend

Dan