One of the features Kik Messenger users love most is the group chat. People form groups like clubs, or throw “Kik Parties” with games and chat. You can have an ongoing group of up to 50 people kikking back and forth casually or on a chosen topic. Read on for how you can find or create one of the 10 Best Kik Messenger Groups on the planet.
Kik Messenger has a group chat option that a lot of people are using to establish online social groups or clubs. Some of these Kik groups last for months or longer while others may be set up for just a few hours of sharing chats, games, or whatever the host(s) and members come up with that’s fun.
If you don’t have Kik Messenger yet, you can download it free at the major app stores (Google, Amazon, Windows, and Apple). While it’s true the developers at Kik chose the smartphone as its natural environment, you can use it from the comfort of your home computer (online, PC, or Mac) as well.
Find a Kik Group
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”- Margaret Mead
Once you have Kik Messenger installed and ready to go, you can search for Kik groups using the tips in the article, Find Kik Groups On Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook.
The great thing about Kik groups is there is no limit on how many you can join. The main challenge to joining a Kik group is that the good ones are hard to find. This is because they really don’t want to be found. The host has invited people already in his or her Kik contacts list, maybe made a post to those in a friends list or followers on Facebook or Instagram, and the maximum 50 users is already there. Many of the group invitations hanging out there are to groups that failed to take off or thrive because the host did not promote or manage it well (more on that later).
Start a Kik Group
The best way to become part of an active and rewarding Kik group may be to start one of your own. Kik Messenger makes it super easy to do that, just be sure to give some thought to what kind of group it will be and how you will grow and care for it. We’ll cover all that next, but first let’s cover the basic how-to’s of setting up a Kik group.
To set up a group in Kik Messenger:
- Open the app.
- Click the ‘find’ icon in the lower right corner of your screen.
- Choose Start a Group from the options in the menu at the top of your screen.
- Name your group.
- Select at least one person in your chats list to add to the group.
- Click START.
- Begin chatting in your new Kik group.
Clicking on the icon in the top corner of your group chat screen takes you to a menu where you can:
- Get the group’s Kik Code,
- Change the group name or photo,
- Mute ringtone alerts for the group, or
- Leave the group.
Pushing on any group member’s name for 1 second opens a menu that lets you:
- Promote them to admin (co-host),
- Remove them from the group (they can return), or
- Ban them from the group (they can never return).
What kind of a Kik group will you start? Never be shy to start a Kik party-type group for games and chat to pass an afternoon or evening, but maybe you want to start a Kik group that will keep going for weeks, months, maybe years. Here are ten ideas for a permanent, ongoing Kik group.
Book Club
One of the most long-standing social groups is the book club. Many people who would enjoy and be fantastic fellow members of a book club just don’t have the time to fit a set meeting time into their schedules. Or maybe it’s hard to find enough people around you that are interested in participating in a book club. Kik Messenger makes it easy for book lovers to discuss and analyze what they’re reading in a book club group chat. Book clubs can be as general as sharing on whatever you’re reading at the time or as selective as choosing a book each month that everyone in the club reads and discusses. You can also adopt a theme. Are you hooked on a book series? Maybe you’re reading through the classics or following the NYT best sellers’ list.
Musicians club
Do you play an instrument? Are you taking or do you give music lessons? Maybe you are a songwriter. A music-based Kik group can be the members of a rock band or a high school band. It can be up to 50 fans talking about their favorite song, album, video, member or the latest news or concert schedule of a group. Use Kik Messenger’s in-app video camera to get input on a song you’re writing, or to show others in your band a new riff between practice sessions. Post tips for budding musicians learning to play an instrument on which you’re practically a virtuoso.
MMO games
Do you play Call of Duty, Clash of Clans, Minecraft or any Massive Multi-player Online game where you form teams, alliances, clans, or guilds? Set up a group chat in Kik Messenger to discuss strategy and to post for donations of troops, gold or elixir. You can share screen shots and video clips of game play right in the app.
Viewing Party
Host a viewing party for The Walking Dead every Sunday night. Keep chatting through Talking Dead and into the night. Speculate on what comes next. Talk all summer about who you think got the much too personal introduction to Lucille. Or switch off to Fear the Walking Dead in the spring and summer months. If Game of Thrones or General Hospital is more your cup of tea, catch up on what you missed and speculate on what will happen next.
Foodies
Do you love food? Is planning, preparing, and partaking of it an important part of your life? In a foodies Kik group you can share what you’re planning to eat, what you’re eating right now, what you had to eat yesterday or ten years ago (a memorable meal, indeed). Are you about to eat something so rich and decadent it brings tears to the eyes? Share a pic with the group before savoring it. Ask for ideas on what to serve with tacos or egg salad sandwiches. See if anyone has a good but simple recipe for oven-baked BBQ ribs. Give a quick review of a recipe or restaurant you recently tried. Foodies unite!
Fortean phenomena
Do you want to believe? Well, the truth is out there for those of us in search of it. Whether your fave unknown is spirits or saucers haunting the night, get together with a Kik group of fellow believers to talk about the mysteries in our world. Post pics of cryptids like Big Foot or a short video of that strange light that shows up in your back yard every night. There is so much to talk about in a Kik Messenger group for lovers of Fortean phenomena. Black-eyed children, spontaneous human combustion, near-death experiences, alien abduction, shadow people and shadow governments are just the tip of the ice berg here.
School Club or Team
Share tips and make plans for your school team or club with a Kik Messenger group. Arrange for travel to and from meetings or practices. Post an article link that tells about a new technique or strategy. If you’re a coach or advisor, quickly distribute team news or changes to the practice or meeting schedule. Having a bake sale or other fundraiser? Keep track of donations and progress before and during your event. Keep everyone on the same page in a way a regular group text can never do.
Yard Sailors
Do you and your friends make the rounds of weekly yard sales, garage sales, rummage sales, thrift shops and the like? Start a Kik Messenger group chat to post what each of you is hoping to find today, then report where you find something that another member needs so they can go get it. Brag on a sale that has everything so that everyone knows to go there, and advise on sales that have sold out or have little to offer in the first place so others don’t waste time going there.
Youth Prayer Chain
Young people need a lot of prayer. Everyone does. Prayerfully consider starting a youth prayer chain group on Kik Messenger. The members could be friends at school or on social media who sincerely and actively share your faith. Maybe it’s a group of friends you met at youth camp last summer, or the members of your weekly youth group at church.
Dachshund lovers
Do you love your babies as much as I love mine? Dachshund people are among the most loyal fans of any breed. Have you seen all the adorable Dachshund memes? Start a group chat in Kik Messenger where you and up to 49 other doxy devotees can swap pics, stories, videos and all that can be done dachshund. Post a link to your invite in the comments here and I might just join you.
Handle with Care
Once you start a Kik Messenger group chat, you have to promote it and manage it.
Promote
Promote your Kik group by inviting everyone that you want to be a part of it. Add those people in your Kik Messenger contact list directly to the group. Send an e-mail to friends who aren’t on the Kik network (yet), being sure to include a link on how they can download Kik Messenger to their mobile device or home computer, and pasting in the group Kik Code so it’s easy for them to join.
Use social media like Facebook to reach more friends. At first, make the post visible to ‘friends’ only and post your group’s Kik code. After you think all interested friends have joined, extend the next post to ‘friends of friends,’ asking people to drop their kiks to be added. If you still have a few openings, make a similar post (asking for kiks) and share it publicly.
Manage
Manage your group by keeping the conversation going. When Game of Thrones is on hiatus, post weekly updates. This could be news on the upcoming season or on any of the actors. It could be a link to an article or your own recounting of a favorite plot turn from the last season. You could select an unresolved plot point and ask others to respond with what they think it will turn out to be.
When a member leaves, find a new one as soon as possible. Falling membership is often seen as a sign of a failing group. Others will begin to leave if it lags too long. Don’t let this happen. Post for new members like you did when you created your group and keep all slots filled.
Quickly boot or ban people who shouldn’t be there. These people will primarily fall into two categories: trolls and spammers. If a member posts about a miracle beauty cream or frequently takes an arbitrary or shocking stance just to start arguments in the group, boot or ban that username.
You don’t have to manage your Kik Messenger group alone. Once it is going with a good number of members, someone will stand out as a great potential co-host. Explain what being a co-host means (promote and manage). If they agree to help with all that, assign them admin rights in the group and let them help.
Be the Best
Kik groups are a perfect addition to your social media mix. Look for them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other sites using Kik lingo and hashtags as keywords. If that doesn’t pull up the kind of Kik group you want, create your own. Be sure to follow the tips here to create, promote and manage your new group to become one of the 10 Best Kik Messenger Groups out there.