While group chats can be a lot of fun, they can also be the most annoying alerts to receive to your phone.

While most of us are part of at least group chat on Whatsapp or Facebook messenger, many of us  have been tempted to mute the flurry of 'bridesmaid duties' or 'Saturday night' messages.

And new research by e2save has now revealed just what irks the nation most when it comes to group chats, and just how to conduct yourself to avoid a group eviction.

The research found that while half of the people surveyed admitted to hating people using group chats for private conversations, almost a quarter even found being part of one 'stressful'.

The survey found that as many as 93 per cent of smartphone users are in at least one group chat, with WhatsApp being the most popular at 28 per cent, followed by Facebook messenger.

The most hated habit was people using group chat for private conversations, followed by those who started one up when it wasn't needed.

Elsewhere, 46 per cent slammed those who took ages to reply to messages and 30 per cent admitted to being among those guilty of not replying.

Meanwhile, 37 per cent cited those who didn't explain the tone of their text as unacceptable, while 24 per cent were annoyed by those who replied late at night.

And despite the taboo of exiting a group chat, a third of people admitted to still making the bold move.

However, 40 per cent revealed they would like to leave but deemed it too impolite, using the 'mute' button instead.

But it wasn't all bad news, with 81 per cent of participants crediting group chats for helping them to maintain friendships and feel connected.

Mobile expert Joe Linnington said: "As a group chat user myself, I think all of us are aware that sometimes they can be a bit annoying. There certainly is an etiquette to keeping all participants happy.

"However, it is really nice to see such a large proportion of people using them to help maintain relationships and stay in touch as it can be so difficult to find the time."