It’s a recently released group invite/messaging app and it wants to make your life easier.
Gather around, people, gather around.
That’s right, lean in close. Let us talk about things of great importance, of a problem that has plagued each and every one of us. Let us talk about group texts. (audience gasps, lady in the back faints)
Here’s the story. I’m sitting at my desk, pondering the deep, dark complexities of life. Suddenly, my phone dings. I look down as a group text materializes on screen, a simple question that speaks directly to my soul — who wants to golf today? A tingle of excitement shoots through my body and I respond with a quick, emphatic yes. This is what group texts were made for, I think, excited that we have technology at our disposal that enables us to do things exactly like this.
This is where the story takes an unfortunate turn. Scrolling through the recipient list, there are several numbers unrecognized by my phone. Immediately, I start feeling nervous. Who could these mystery persons be? Did I just agree to be paired with multiple people I hate golfing with, turned off by their sour dispositions and general unwillingness to accept basic facts about life? Is my dream of a peaceful, relaxing afternoon of golf about to be shattered by unwanted guests?
Looking at the clock, I realize I’m supposed to be on a conference call so I push aside my questions and dial the call-in number. I haven’t said hi before my phone dings. Then again. And again. For the next 15 minutes my phone chimes like the angel of doom, blowing a lone trumpet to remind us of our follies. Distracted by the twentieth chime, I glance down, wondering how a simple yes/no question could require so much interaction. This is where things really get ugly.
On my phone’s screen, I look at a group text thread that has run amok. This simple question about golf has been hijacked and turned into a 15-person commentary on the mundane aspects of life. Some are talking about the weather. Some are talking about BYU football. Some are talking about cake bites. It’s absolute anarchy and trying to make sense of everything I realize no sane person should ever text these things in an individual thread, much less a group one. Ashamed of my friends, both known and unknown, I switch my phone on silent and return to pondering life’s complexities, both deeper and darker than I ever realized.
WeVyte hopes to be the antidote to our group texting problems. It’s a group invite/messaging app and all it wants to do is make your life operate in an easier manner.
“We want to build the platform for groups and events,” said Blaine Farr, founder of WeVyte. We’re starting with a mobile app but there are a lot of additional features and functionality that we plan to add to make things easier.”
Farr, as many others before him, has felt the sting of a group texting thread. Unlike many others before him, Farr is setting out to do something about it by creating WeVyte, recently launched with the simple goal of being a better alternative to group texting. You can use it to message anyone within your contacts and they can reply accordingly, within the app or through text message. The text messaging aspect is key because it allows non-users to respond even if they don’t have the app, ensuring nobody gets left behind.
“Most people don’t respond on a group text, there’s usually just a small, vocal minority that responds and the rest just ignores it,” said Farr. “And if you can’t go, you don’t want to be getting tens of messages. I had a group text two weeks ago where I got 120 messages over 24 hours for something that I couldn’t go to.”
Using WeVyte, if you can’t attend an event, you don’t have to sit through 120 messages that make you feel angry at technology, your friends, and the world in general — you’ll only receive additional messages if you can attend and the details on the event (who, what, where, etc.) are all easy to find.
“We have a big focus on groups, like a biking group or a group for people that like playing basketball,” said Farr. “You can create the group within the app and then go in and see the schedule for everything that group is doing and has coming up.”
WeVyte was released publicly last week, with the plan of adding different features and functions as time moves along. For now, they will move forward by giving users the ability to eliminate a very specific problem from their lives.
“It saves everybody from a group text,” said Farr.
