Me and my roommates have this conversation nearly every month…when will we grow out of using Snapchat? We turn 20 and 21 this year, and our primary group chat is on Snapchat, but we have started wondering at what age does using this form of social media become embarrassing? This made me think about the secondary question of why certain generations gravitate towards different types of social media. No one my age is regularly updating their Facebook (I personally only have it to check up on distant family shhhh), and no one my parents’ age is doomscrolling through Tiktok (my mom prefers Youtube shorts instead). Is the reason that parents stick to Facebook, X and all the more “outdated” forms of social media simply because those were the first forms of social media they were introduced to or do they just prefer that type of media over the more short-form video style that newer social media platforms feature?
Soooo what’s the age?
Most users love how Snapchat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family without the pressure of having to constantly maintain a conversation. It also allows you to share your location with your friends, connect with people in your school community, and add filters to your pictures. All this to say, Snapchat is a unique app, and there is no form of social media quite like it that has reached its level of popularity, so as long as you have use for Snapchat, there should be no social pressure to stop having the app. Just to see what other people are thinking, I went to the most reputable source of information – Reddit. Opinions varied from “I stopped using it in college” to “I’m 60 and use it to connect to my grandkids” to “I don’t believe in social media and living life through other people’s eyes.” Well that’s helpful.
Is Snapchat’s popularity streak bound to expire?
While I don’t think there should be a cut off age for any social media platform, I think Snapchat may fall out of popularity because of the way people use it. Many people use Snapchat primarily as an alternative dating app or as a way to make connections with people in their community. One of my roommates met her boyfriend through Snapchat Quick Add, and when they started dating she did not see the need to be on Snapchat as much because the main reason she used it was not applicable anymore. Another part of the reason Snapchat might not fit into the lifestyle of a busy adult is because it is very much an interactive app that encourages users to be active every day. However, just like how Facebook used to be popular with college students in the past and grew into a more outdated form of social media, there is a potential that it can transition into an app for older users as the first users of the platform are now growing up. Older generations appreciated more text-based social platforms, such as magazines, newspapers and X, and now younger users gravitate towards heavily visual media, especially media featuring videos. The shortened attention spans of Gen Z audiences increase the divide between the demographic of audiences for each social media platform.
Don’t retire the group chat
Don’t break the 1,167-day streak with your best friend just because you think Snapchat is just a high school app! The app is always evolving, and there are ways to use it beyond “wyll” and ceiling pics. I like the new countdown feature app, and I use it with my long-distance boyfriend to keep track of how many days there are until we see each other. My friends and I also made a memory lockbox of sorts last spring break by uploading pictures and videos during our spring break trip to a groupchat and promising not to open any of them until we were back home and able to have a watch party together. However you choose to use the app, use it shamefree and let it supplement your life without getting sucked into the online world!