Why do rows get so much hate?

I’m a first year, 9th grade teacher on a semester schedule. My kids have final exams in nine days, and for the majority of the semester, apart from the first few days, I had them in groups. For the most part, this was manageable, some classes were easier than others. Then, right around Thanksgiving, the talking started, and never stopped. They would talk over me, and not notice that I stopped instruction. When corrected they would apologize, but continue talking, just a little quieter. I was quite literally losing my mind. Yesterday, I had a meeting for about half of the class. I came back and it was out of control. They wouldn’t even listen to the veteran teacher covering my class.

So, today I put them in rows. Well, kinda. I still have them in pairs, but everyone is facing forward. Game changer. It was the quietest my room has been in months. And I didn’t even have to assign seats. They sat next to their friends, and I was still able to lecture in silence. Students were participating because they were actually listening. Then they did work silently. I feel like this might be too good to be true, but if it lasts for the next 9 days, I don’t know if my room is ever going back to groups. Why does everyone hate on rows?!