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Do you message older people? I interact with multiple and they find audio messages to be indispensable. (Who can blame them when recording a voice message is va

by hda2 6y ago

Do you message older people? I interact with multiple and they find audio messages to be indispensable. (Who can blame them when recording a voice message is vastly easier than getting your glasses and typing out a message on a small screen with even beady on-screen buttons). In addition to old people, I also message a disabled person to whom speech and recorded messages are her primary mode of communication. In short, I don't think it's regional. It depends on the person with whom you need to communicate.

jeltz 6y ago
Yes, and no older people use it here in Sweden. I do not know anyone in Swden who uses voice messages.
OJFord 6y ago
My grandmother has an iPhone and my parents would be baffled if she sent them a voice message. I'm not denying it's helpful/required for accessibility, I'm just talking about 'in general' large scale use of it (or not). Maybe it's less about glasses (if you have to find your glasses to type a message I expect you also need to in order to unlock your phone, open the app, and tap the voice message button) for older people than it is about accustom to IM - the brief chatty format is more like a telephone call than a letter. (But those I've known to use smartphones haven't used voice messages - as distinct from telephone voicemail - anyway, as I said.)
- hda2 6y ago
  I'm not doubting your (or your sibling's) claims, but I find it extremely difficult to imagine any older person preferring a virtual keyboard to voice messages (provided they are properly introduced to the feature, of course). Maybe this preference stems from how simple telegram (the app we use) makes taking and hearing voice messages? Perhaps it really is a regional thing after all. We need more data. From my anecdotal/regional experience, people over 60 prefer to use voice messages almost exclusively while younger people prefer to text. Maybe someone at telegram or whatsapp can provide statistical data to shed more light on voice message usage.

by hda2 6y ago

jeltz 6y ago

Yes, and no older people use it here in Sweden. I do not know anyone in Swden who uses voice messages.

OJFord 6y ago

My grandmother has an iPhone and my parents would be baffled if she sent them a voice message. I'm not denying it's helpful/required for accessibility, I'm just talking about 'in general' large scale use of it (or not). Maybe it's less about glasses (if you have to find your glasses to type a message I expect you also need to in order to unlock your phone, open the app, and tap the voice message button) for older people than it is about accustom to IM - the brief chatty format is more like a telephone call than a letter. (But those I've known to use smartphones haven't used voice messages - as distinct from telephone voicemail - anyway, as I said.)

hda2 6y ago
I'm not doubting your (or your sibling's) claims, but I find it extremely difficult to imagine any older person preferring a virtual keyboard to voice messages (provided they are properly introduced to the feature, of course). Maybe this preference stems from how simple telegram (the app we use) makes taking and hearing voice messages? Perhaps it really is a regional thing after all. We need more data. From my anecdotal/regional experience, people over 60 prefer to use voice messages almost exclusively while younger people prefer to text. Maybe someone at telegram or whatsapp can provide statistical data to shed more light on voice message usage.