What's the difference between group messaging and messages?

I'm just asking because it always lags behind messaging and I don't message that many people at one time where you add more than 1 contact. I have an iPhone. I just check my data from the text message number.

Group messaging is like a forward to more then one person. Messages is just to message one person or yourself.

  • What is group messaging on the iphone? It says I have sent 709 messages of unlimited. Then under that it says group messaging: 2, 089 of unlimited. What does that mean? I never really have had a group texting thing with 3+ people. So does that mean someone else is receiving all my messages?
  • Phones with group messaging like iPhone? I don't want an iPhone, my recent one just broke and I'm ready to try a different phone. Are there any phones that have group messaging similar to iPhone, where it is all kept in the same thread? I would like it built in, so I don't have to download another app.
  • My photos are not sending in group messages, but are sending in individual messages? I'm with Straight Talk Wireless. At first my pictures were sending in the group message but now they are not. I don't know what's wrong, all my settings are what they are suppose to be, and I'm currently on an iPhone 5s IOS 8.4.
  • Looking for a group messaging app? Ok, so I play this game on my iPhone called Marvel War Of Heroes. I'm in an alliance (guild, clan, whatever you wanna call it), and it's very hard to communicate with people in game. I'm using Kik Messenger right now, but you can only communicate with 1 person directly. So what I'm looking for is an app that allows me to communicate with everyone in my alliance at the same time as well as 1 person directly.