Google Docs is Google’s answer to a word processor, although given its online nature it means that users can collaborate with each other and where edits and changes made to the document can be seen in real-time. So much so that according to a report from The Atlantic, teens have been repurposing Google Docs as a means to chat with each other.
Basically it is their workaround to instances where they might be required to put their phones away or if chat apps are banned from school. This means that all they need to do is launch Google Docs to make it look like they’re doing work, when in reality they are just chatting with each other.
According to The Atlantic, one of the tricks that these teens do to make it seem like they’re working is by creating a copy of a shared Google Doc by their teacher, and then create a comments section which they then chat in. To anyone walking by, it looks like they’re doing work and making notes, and all it takes is a click of the “Resolve” button and no one would be the wiser.
We have to say that this is actually a rather clever use of Google Docs and while some might think it’s a problem, we imagine that given how creative teens can get, they’ll probably find another unconventional way of chatting with each other in class soon enough.
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