"hey I got a new phone and lost all my contacts. Can everyone lmk know they are?"

Step 1: stop responding to the messages you receive in that thread. No likes or other reactions either.

You either

1. Ask someone you know privately
2. Text in the group chat that you got a new phone and not all contacts saved properly and ask people who is who (this legitimately happened to me where I lost 25% of my contacts)

This is why I don't participate in text chains where I don't know at least 50% of the numbers

Text something like this to the group:
Hi, this is ****, mom to ****. My apologies, but I’m having trouble matching phone numbers and names. Could everyone on the chain send a quick text identifying themselves? I would really appreciate it!

(Some other People will appreciate this.)

Just text that you have no clue what happened, your phone suddenly lost all its contacts, would everyone mind sending a text with just their name so you can save their number again.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a school directory where you can cross-check the numbers? If not, just text the one mom you know separately and ask her who’s who

No directory! I thought about asking her but I'm afraid she will think I'm weird. I've been replying and liking things in this one thread for so long. Maybe the new phone excuse is the way to go!

Agree - cross-check with the school/PTA directory. Try searching your gmail for the numbers, sometimes they'll be attached to kids' bday party invitations or classroom notes. Even try just Googling them to see if they come up.

Or you could pretend that you had a phone issue and lost your numbers and ask people to confirm, but that's being a little more obvious about it...

Google the phone number.

You can also try doing a search on the phone numbers — just to see if any familiar names pop up.

"New phone, who dis?!"

I dislike text chains for this reason, but just text the person you know and ask. Throw in a laughing emoji. Don’t overthink it.

You ask someone you know in a private message.

Who is 555-1212.

Simple.

Do you have a school directory where you can cross-check the numbers? If not, just text the one mom you know separately and ask her who’s who

This is going to sound so dumb that I'm sure people will think I'm trolling. Please tell me someone is in a similar situation.
I'm in 2 text chains with some moms (dads?) and I have no idea who the numbers belong to, because either I never saved them or I was added to a message by someone else. In one of the chains, I know one of the moms but not well enough to admit I have no clue who the rest of the people are. I always reply with "whatever msg text -Larlo's mom" But nobody else ever mentions their kids' names! Sometimes people agree to meet up somewhere, but there are so many people that I have no idea which number pairs with which kid or parent. How do I identify the women (men?) on these chains without looking like an idiot? I know, I am...
1 of the chains has been ongoing for a year. At this point, I don't feel like I can admit that I don't know who these people are.