Families: These are your “kitchen tables”!
Families are an exciting and core feature of TightKnit. When understanding what they are, it might help to start with what they are not.
What the "Family" feature is not: If you use your phone to send and receive text messages, you likely have created "groups" that are formed out of convenience, to include people into a subject conversation thread of mutual interest. It works great for that. However, this group feature is generally used for something that is happening at the moment. For example, a group including your daughter, but also 3 of her friends because they will be joining you for a day trip. It is convenient to include your daughter's friends for that day, but how often will you communicate with that same group again in the future, when the future in TightKnit is in terms of years? Plus, if you are like me, you have many -- dozens or even hundreds -- of text groups -- too many to really manage effectively, except for at-the-moment usage.
What the family feature is. TightKnit families are something that are set up more deliberately then text message groups -- with long-term relationships in mind. You can, and should, have more than one family. Families are the groups of people that you want to have ongoing communications with. Think of families with different things in common and even different levels of intimacy when it comes to what you share. Generally, they are either going to be biological/hierarchical (e.g. defined by your family structure), or they can be groups of your long-term friends/associates. Here are some examples of different families you might have:
- You and your spouse (for things just the two of you share)
- You, your spouse and your children (for the everyday things you and your kids share)
- You, your spouse, your children and your parents (For the things you do that you want your parents to share and that they want to share with you)
- You, your spouse, your children and your spouse’s parents (For the things you do that you want your spouse’s parents to share and that they want to share with you)
- Your grandparents on your mother’s side and all of their children, grandchildren, etc. (to share anything regarding the history of that part of your family, for example photos of the farm back in the early 1900s)
- You and your college buddies
For families you create, you are the administrator. That means, you are the only one who can add people to a family. We really suggest that you think carefully about who your families are and who are in them. Avoid just making a family a "catch-all" of everyone, as this makes it less private for those participating.
Also, you will be asked to participate in families by others. So "your families" are really a combination of:
- Families you created and
- Families, created by others, that you participate in.
These are your kitchen tables! You know who sits at each one and therefore know with confidence who you are sharing photos, memories and stories with! Enjoy!