Group Chat vs Mass Text: Understanding the Key Differences

Group text means sending a text message to multiple recipients simultaneously within a single thread, while allowing all the group members to read and respond to each other's messages.

For example, if there is a group of 10 people, all those people can view and reply to all the messages. As such, it provides an excellent platform for group discussion and idea sharing.

Group text is useful when you want to share a message with multiple people while allowing them to share feedback in a single chat box. While mostly popular for unofficial conversations, it's also ideal in business communication scenarios like sharing updates, brainstorming activities, planning events, or coordinating events.

Pros:

• Allows all members to provide feedback.
• Improves collaboration between team members.
• Helpful in conducting group meetings and scheduling planning.

Cons:

• Limited number of members
• Privacy issues, as all members can see the messages
• Users often find it hard to leave group chats, as many platforms may lack a self-opt-out feature. 

Mass Text is sending a single message or SMS to a large number of recipients at once, while creating a private thread for each recipient. It’s also popularly known as bulk texting. The sender typically uses the Short SMS code for delivering mass texts.

Example of promotional Messages for mass texting: Hey [Recipient's Name]! Don’t miss out on 40% off on all grocery items.

Mass texting is used by businesses for advertising and marketing purposes, such as sending discount offers, promoting sales, and sending alert notifications to multiple people at once. They are also widely utilized for following up with customers, gathering feedback, and providing technical support.

Pros:

• Immediate delivery
• High open rates
• Messages are highly secured
• Instant communication with customers

Cons:

• Some SMS filter apps may inadvertently mark it as spam
• Limit of 160 characters per message
• Users can unsubscribe whenever they want

Group text creates shared threads, which allow all members to read and reply simultaneously, whereas mass texting creates a one-to-one thread, making the messaging secure.

Here’s how mass texting differs from group texting:

The number of recipients you can include in a group chat and mass text varies. In a group text, Google Messages allows you to add up to 20 participants, and iMessages allows you to add up to 32 participants at once.

For mass texting, you can typically add 20 on Android and 35 on iPhone. However, if you use tailored software for SMS marketing, you can send messages to hundreds or thousands of contacts simultaneously without restrictions.

Group texting uses a single thread, creating an environment where all participating members can see and reply to messages. At the same time, mass texting sends a single message to a large number of customers at once. That’s the reason businesses often prefer mass texting over group texting. It helps them protect consumers’ rights, as consumers cannot see each other's messages.

Personalizing messages in a group text is always a difficult task, as all texts are visible to each member participating in the group.

On the other hand, various mass texting apps to send bulk SMS allow customization of the messages. Furthermore, they also allow you to schedule the message.

Users in group texts generally don’t have the feature to opt out of the group. Users typically mute the notification or delete the entire group in order to stop receiving messages. In contrast, mass texting generally allows users to opt out of the conversation at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link sent in the message.

Here’s the key differences between Group Chat Vs. Mass Text in the table for quick insights:

To send a group text message, open your mobile’s built-in messaging app, go to a new conversation, and add the members by their phone number before sending the message.

1. Open the Messaging app: Access the Messaging app on your Android device and open it.
2. Start a new Conversation: Click on the “+” icon at the bottom on the right side.
3. Add Members: Type the name or number, or browse through the contact list to add members.
4. Type and Send Message: Type your message and tap the send icon to send it to the group.

You can send a mass text using the dedicated mass texting software to send the same SMS to multiple users.

1. Choosing a Mass Texting Platform: Select a reliable provider with a robust network.
2. Enable-Text on Your Business Landline: Create your account with a provider and text-enable your business number (for landline users).
3. Import Your Contact List: Import your contact list or synchronize the software with your CRM system.
4. Compose Your Message: Compose your text messages manually or using available templates.
5. Send the Message: Hit the Send button or schedule your message.

Choosing between mass text and group text comes down to your communication goals.

If you want real-time, two-way conversations within a small team, family, or workgroup, group text is a better option. But if your goal is to reach a large number of people at once, select mass texting. It creates individual threads for each recipient, maintains privacy, and delivers messages without clutter. However, for mass texting, you’d require a dedicated platform that offers features like message personalization, scheduling, automated replies, opt-out management, and delivery tracking.

No, MMS contains visuals that increase the SMS size, ultimately increasing the time required to send. On the other hand, SMS typically contains text only and is faster than MMS.

Yes, it is possible to send a mass text without it being in a closed group. You can use a mass texting app that allows you to send the same message to multiple recipients using different channels.

Group texting lacks privacy as all the members can view the message sent in the chat. Also, the limitations of adding members to group chats are comparatively lower than mass texting.