Scientists Reveal 90% of Group Chats Are Just People Saying ‘Sorry, Only Seeing This Now’

A groundbreaking study from the University of Stirling has confirmed what every human with a smartphone already suspected: 90% of all group chat messages are simply variations of “Sorry, only seeing this now.”

Researchers analysed over 12 million messages across family chats, work chats, five‑a‑side chats, and that one chaotic group created on a night out that nobody remembers joining.

Lead scientist Dr. Fiona McLeish explained the findings:

“We expected a high percentage, but not this. Some chats went entire weeks without a single message that wasn’t an apology for lateness.”

The remaining 10% of messages were categorised as:

– Memes sent at inappropriate times

– Plans nobody will commit to

– Passive‑aggressive thumbs‑up reactions

– One guy who replies instantly because he has no boundaries

The study also discovered that the average time between a message being sent and someone replying “just seeing this now” is four minutes, suggesting that people are lying at industrial scale.

One participant admitted, “I saw the message immediately. I just didn’t want to deal with it. But you can’t say that, so you pretend you were in the shower, at work, or trapped under a fallen wardrobe.”

Family group chats were found to be the worst offenders, with some threads consisting entirely of missed messages, birthday reminders, and your aunt sending the same photo of a dog three times.

In response to the findings, tech companies are reportedly developing a new auto‑reply feature that instantly sends “Sorry, only seeing this now” the moment a message arrives, saving users valuable time and emotional labour.

Experts predict this will account for 100% of group chat communication by 2027.