Is Texting Taboo for Teens?
Generation Z has become more reliant on social media than ever. To most generations, social media is a great way to communicate with old friends, distant family, and other people that they do not come into contact with day to day. There is an astonishing 76% of teenagers using some sort of social media. The major sites are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter.
The current teenage generation goes beyond just catching up on what is going on with their connections. Teens have taken social media and made it one of their staples in ways to communicate with others. Many those in the older generations thought that the amount of texting that Millennials did on a day to day basis was excessive, and ruining their communication skills. Now, Generation Z teens have stepped it up and moved beyond texting. Some consider it “out of style” and would rather Snapchat message or DM on Instagram back and forth between friends and acquaintances.
Having a younger sister, I have seen this in action. She and her friends will send messages in the chats on Snapchat instead of texting each other when they have something they need to talk about. The first time I realized she was doing this, I was very confused. Those messages have to be intentionally saved or else the disappear as a normal snapchat would. I asked her why she would go through the extra work of saving the chats instead of just texting.. Sometimes, they would have full conversations over snapchat photos. Even if she didn’t think she look “presentable” enough for the camera, she will send black screens with texts on them to respond to her friends. I personally wonder why you would not just text from your normally messaging apps instead. My sister told me that often she doesn’t have her Snapchat friends’ numbers, so she relies on Snapchat to communicate.
For these younger kids, their close circles of friends have grown exponentially. Even if you don’t see them every day, there is an easiness of communication between friends-of-friends. I often would see my sister interacting with someone on her Instagram and ask who the person was if I hadn’t heard her talk about them before. Many times, her response is something along the lines of “oh, he goes to (rival high school). I’ve never met him, but he’s friends with one of my friends so we follow each other on Instagram.”
While social media has become a great place for teens to communicate and grow their circles, it is also creating atmospheres for oversharing with people you would not usually share much of your life with. First hand, I have seen my sister and her friends think that someone is a closer friend than they actually are, share too much information, and end up getting hurt in some way by it. Overall, I think that social media can be a positive place for teens to be, but there are dangers that need to be acknowledged when they are putting too much of themselves out there.
