How do we (25-40 F) address someone treating our group chat like a one-way support system?

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We’re a group of 12 women (ages 25–40) from across the country who met through a training app while preparing for an Iron Man 18 months ago. We met in person during the race, but since then, our daily group chat has kept us connected.

What started as a training support group has evolved into a genuine, ongoing friendship, and it’s become a safe and supportive space for sharing all aspects of life. Everyone contributes in their own way, but there’s been growing tension around one member (27F).

She primarily uses the group to ask advice about dating and men, which isn’t a problem within itself, but she never engages with any other conversation, never offers support during others’ tough moments, and doesn’t acknowledge anyone else’s experiences. She now has a new boyfriend and basically uses the chat to boast about what they’re up to, without acknowledging anything else going on or anyone else’s contributions. It feels like she sees the group as an audience rather than a community.

I love this community, but that’s exactly what it is, a community, and it takes mutual care and reciprocity to keep it going. If we all treated it like her, it wouldn’t exist, and it doesn’t feel fair that she has access to all of us and our guidance and personal lives, while she is using it entirely one-sided. It’s so hard to police how someone uses a group chat, it doesn’t really feel fair. We’ve tried disengaging when she drops in solely to self-broadcast, but that doesn’t feel right either.

How do we handle this or approach her? Is there a way to do it at all, or do we just need to get over it?

TL;DR – A member of our group chat only uses it to drop in and talk about herself, without participating the way every other member does. It’s one-sided and there’s growing resentment. How do we talk her about this?

Comments

  1. Farahild Avatar

    Start a new group chat that doesn’t include her. You can use the excuse of Different topic that doesn’t include her (like my main group chat of a friend group also has one centered around food and diet that not everyone wanted to be included in). You can still give feedback if she asks things in the main group 🤷‍♀️