What do major social apps look like in the minds of American teenagers?

There is a whole social science fallacy that makes inferences based on one or two cases, which is obviously biased, so we need to take it seriously and not read too much into the media reports about which social platforms 19-year-old Andrew Watts and his friends use. In other words, it is normal for people of different ages to use different social services.

Perhaps most surprising is that Watts points out that there are teenagers who have almost no interest in using Facebook, but all of them still have an account because it is the only way for them to stay in touch with certain people. Watts describes it as:

"We used Facebook in secondary school because it was cool, but now it seems like a really awkward thing, like an awkward family party where we can't really leave."

This explanation fits the attitude of young people towards Facebook today. Some of them describe social networks as something very annoying, just like some senior Internet users' attitude towards annoying emails. Although these things are necessary, they have no fun in them. Eliza Kern, a writer for Gigaom, once compared social networks to "cable TV companies."

Instagram is now the top

However, we found something interesting about a subset of Facebook, which are the services that Watts and his friends still use, but only a subset of them. They use Facebook Messenger because everyone has it, and they use "groups" because it's a very simple and quick way to find something without having to deal with the complex algorithms of Facebook homepage and things like news. Facebook is now a kind of "identity hub" where you can quickly figure out who is who.

"The idea behind Facebook is to let lots of people find you on the internet, because everyone around us uses it," he said. "If I run into you at a party, I'm not going to try to scour Twitter or Instagram to find out who you are. Instead, most people will use Facebook's simple and powerful search function, which will return information about the people you want to know about."

Of the services that are very popular, Instagram is at the top of the list, which is completely consistent with the experience of the teenagers we interviewed, including my daughter and her friends. They think Instagram is just a lame way to share filtered photos. But I think it is also a full-fledged social network, with the ability to talk to people in the comments and use hashtags to find what you need. Watts said some of his friends like Instagram because it feels more intimate than Facebook.

"I don't feel any fear when I use Instagram. I don't worry about showing up in someone's feed or them taking screenshots. What I like about it is that I don't feel pressured to follow someone else, and by that I mean only the things I want to see appear on my Instagram feed."

Snapchat and Tumblr

Following Instagram on this list is an app that most people have used before: Snapchat, which recently raised an astonishing $10 billion. Watts reinforced the point I and others have made about the “ephemeral” nature of services like Snapchat, saying that he and his friends use the app because there’s less social pressure to be in the content.

“There’s nothing to worry about or comment on because everything is taken away. There’s less social pressure on Snapchat than other popular social media platforms, which is why it’s so addictive and indulgent. If I post a photo on Instagram or Facebook and don’t get a single like within 15 minutes, you can bet I’ll delete it.”

The ephemeral “latte art” is accompanied by the Snapchat logo and disappears without a trace after you take your first sip.

There is one service that has not been widely followed by teenagers, especially after being acquired by Yahoo, which has made many industry observers almost slap their faces on the ground. That is Tumblr. Watts said that this platform is popular among many of his friends because Tumblr allows all kinds of content to be posted and shared, and no one will verify the authenticity of these information.

"Tumblr is like a secret society that everyone is in, but no one talks about. Tumblr is your true self, and through the people you follow, you can find people around you who share your interests. It is often seen as a "lawless zone" where you can be whoever you want due to the lack of identity verification on the site. The unique Tumblr URL address is the only way to identify my friends in real life, and vice versa."

I can confirm that Tumblr is very private in large part because my 20-something daughter spends more time on the app than any other social service, even more than Snapchat. For her, everything there—TV shows, movies, books, etc.—can be seen through her Tumblr dashboard because her community of friends is talking about it and sharing it.

and Twitter

It’s also interesting to note that Twitter seems to be a “niche” social network in the circles Watts describes, saying that many of us don’t know about Twitter, and that outside of a small group of people in each school “who use it very well,” almost no one is on the platform (in my home, my young daughter uses it, and in fact she has multiple accounts at once, and the older people are almost not paying attention to it).”

Another social network that Watts and his friends have been using is Yik Yak, a location-based sharing platform that our Carmel DeAmicis has written about extensively. Watts says part of Yik Yak's appeal is that it's also anonymous, and lacks the social pressures that come with it. Yik Yak brings people together who are tired of their real-world identities. Yik Yak is addictive. He says:

"Because it only focuses on the content of your posts, no followers, no profile, nothing. Anything interesting or relevant is at the top, and the rest of the news is below. Kanye West wrote that this app will definitely not be talked about by children in class."

It's debatable whether Watts's or his friends' experiences can be extrapolated to the global market, as he's only 19 and a student at the University of Texas at Austin, so not all of his actions apply to younger or non-college users. However, there's a wealth of information in his description of social media and its evolution that I'd be reading carefully if I worked at Twitter or Facebook.

Source: Gigaom

Compiled by: Lieyun.com