[swatcoder]

You're not alone. I think it depends on what group chat represents for you.

For me, group chats are a way to coordinate with people and share with people. Token or ritual messages do neither of those things and feel like misuse to me. I'd find the GP's group chats to be noisy and obnoxious and I'd be gone in a minute.

Connecting with people is something I do in other ways and by other mediums (and usually involve more mindful effort than token/ritual messages anyway).