I have 5 younger siblings (ranging from early teens to early 20s [8th grade on]), and everyone in my family has a smartphone so here are some scattered thoughts.
It's always interesting to see what apps they have pinned or what they use the most (snapchat, instagram, twitter). Generally with tech-related stuff I'm the most knowledgeable and up-to-date family member, but I completely miss the train when it comes to social apps sometimes. I think this is because I'm older, geographically isolated from young people, and grew up without a cellphone at all. I definitely had a phase where I was obsessed with joining things ASAP (remember Pownce?), but I feel like I've been done with that part of my connected life for a few years. I use instagram, but don't follow anyone except immediate family members or close friends, I have 0 exposure to the super popular "celebrity" accounts because I rarely use or search for hashtags. I still don't use Snapchat, and recently one of my brothers was shocked that I didn't use Venmo.
A particular thing that I've found really odd is that I have trouble getting a text response from my siblings, even though I know they have their phones on them and are constantly snapchatting, or whatever. I text a lot, but maybe get one response for every 5-10 texts I send.
I think the one extremely consistent app in my family is Spotify, although it's fairly rare for any of us to use its social functions. From my parents down through all the kids, everyone uses Spotify quite a bit.
The younger siblings don't seem to care about or understand data limits as much. To them, the internet is everywhere, what do you mean it's not free?
>>> A particular thing that I've found really odd is that I have trouble getting a text response from my siblings, even though I know they have their phones on them and are constantly snapchatting, or whatever. I text a lot, but maybe get one response for every 5-10 texts I send.
text messaging for kids is what email is for the older generations now. I remember when I first starting email and I thought it was really cool. It was instant communication and I felt like I was living in a brave new world. Nowadays, I almost despise email. Too many messages, or ads, or stuff I get subscribed to, then have to remove or unsubscribe to when they don't mean anything to me.
This is how it is with kids and text messaging now. Unless you're one of their 10 most important friends they text and arrange their social calendars with, you're the equivalent of spam to them. I should know, I have the same experience with my nephews.
Anything about how something went like a sports event, or something that I thought was important in their life? No answer. Even stuff like, "I have two extras tickets to the Maple Leafs game, you want to go with a friend?" will go without an answer sometimes for days. The response? "Oh, sometimes I get so many texts, I forgot sometimes to reply back to people." When I spoke to my sister she said they were starting to have the same problem. Until they took my nephew's iphone away for a week and told him if they text him, it's a priority and he had better respond or lose more of his gadgets or his iphone on a permanent basis. So now they have a way of cutting through the noise to signal ratio and get a hold of him. I just don't have that much pull with them. Now, I usually just call my sister or call him directly. It's the only way I can get a response within a decent amount of time.
I'm completely with you on the social platforms. I think school provides a certain set of situations where social networks become very important to groups and personal growth. I remember being active in IRC, forums, all manner of instant messaging and chat platforms even MUDs. Now I'm so far removed, and so far from a group think of peers, that those social networks just don't feel relevant.
On text, your absolutely right, text used to be the way to get a hold of the younger crowd, but now I have 9 active chat clients installed, everyone wants to use their own network where there friends or business is. I installed SnapChat, Secret, a few others, poked around, deleted them.
> A particular thing that I've found really odd is that I have trouble getting a text response from my siblings, even though I know they have their phones on them and are constantly snapchatting, or whatever. I text a lot, but maybe get one response for every 5-10 texts I send.
This is a function of you being their sibling. I'm 27, my sister is 20, we both chat and snapchat and are difficult to distinguish from teenagers in that regard. But the rate/speed of reply for texts (and other messages) goes in this order and falls exponentially: 1. Besties, 2. Girlfriend/Boyfriend, 3. Siblings, 4. Friends, 5. Acquaintances, 6. Parents, 7. Strangers
It's always interesting to see what apps they have pinned or what they use the most (snapchat, instagram, twitter). Generally with tech-related stuff I'm the most knowledgeable and up-to-date family member, but I completely miss the train when it comes to social apps sometimes. I think this is because I'm older, geographically isolated from young people, and grew up without a cellphone at all. I definitely had a phase where I was obsessed with joining things ASAP (remember Pownce?), but I feel like I've been done with that part of my connected life for a few years. I use instagram, but don't follow anyone except immediate family members or close friends, I have 0 exposure to the super popular "celebrity" accounts because I rarely use or search for hashtags. I still don't use Snapchat, and recently one of my brothers was shocked that I didn't use Venmo.
A particular thing that I've found really odd is that I have trouble getting a text response from my siblings, even though I know they have their phones on them and are constantly snapchatting, or whatever. I text a lot, but maybe get one response for every 5-10 texts I send.
I think the one extremely consistent app in my family is Spotify, although it's fairly rare for any of us to use its social functions. From my parents down through all the kids, everyone uses Spotify quite a bit.
The younger siblings don't seem to care about or understand data limits as much. To them, the internet is everywhere, what do you mean it's not free?