January 30, 2014
The ever dividing gap of age generation is now so evident within the digital sphere of social media. With statistics evident of teens turning from Facebook or Twitter it’s safe to ask what the social media platforms are they turning to have or don’t have. The inevitable digital rebellion against their ‘parents’ before them is beginning to take place through new forms of content interaction and a diversification in the way new content is owned and shared.
Snapchat recently turned down Billions from the ‘Grand-daddies’ of digital being Facebook and Google but was this a shortcoming in the financial offer? At offers exceeding $2 Billion we think not, but a simple look at the interactive nature and ownership of the platform we can see the ethos is almost opposable to that of the bidding parties.
Here’s how the opinions of certain elders vs. youngsters of each platform commonly weigh up
Snapchat users are pretty much encouraged to post in more extreme ways; being the ‘ugly face’ or a potential risk of worse. However users can only see messages from approved contacts lists and can delete contacts at any time. A platform of choice for those who appeal with content to be seen once and forever lost. Whereas Facebook actively looks to preserve, log and populate a timeline that spans as far back as our digital content, or sheer effort, allows us to go.
Google, in an even more integrated approach, sees to cross platform its users’ search and activity data to connect the world through unfathomable algorithmic commonalities and more recently, Google plus users being given the ability to email any other user. A potentially problematic situation driven by a wonderfully utopian ideal.
The gap between the generations’ social media interactivity has yet to be properly defined, we are still in the pre renaissance of a potentially complex digital age. With the access to social media and handset access reaching younger ages all the time, the risks continue to grow and so do the number of platforms.
So is the platform of ‘widely shared content’ and ‘more likes more views” (baby pics included) seeing a change? Or have we simply jumped to the extreme in revolt against our baby booming parents? Have we simply shifted from the first generation of social media ‘share with the many’ users and developed a second generation that is extremely more selective and simply prefer to ‘share with the few’. Whichever, we can be sure we ‘may’ not be seeing Bruce Forsyth asking “What’s on the board Miss Ford?” on Snapchat any time soon. (God I feel old)
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