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Platform fragmentation is a generational thing. I thought email was a common denominator but I learned most people don’t check email or check it rarely. So dif
by wenc 2y ago
Platform fragmentation is a generational thing.
I thought email was a common denominator but I learned most people don’t check email or check it rarely. So different from the days when everyone had email.
I still use FB and so do many of my friends my age (mid to late 40s). But a bunch have also migrated to Instagram.
Among the younger generation, you’re a millennial if you’re on instagram because they’ve moved to TikTok. FB folks are over the hill. There’s a generational divide and pride in being trendy.
WhatsApp is only a thing among my international friends — many Americans don’t have it.
The only universal now is text messages but it feels so clunky (even with iMessage).
- ojhughes 2y agoIt’s interesting that WhatsApp never caught on in the US. It’s ubiquitous amongst everyone I know. Android use also seems to be much larger in Europe
- ghaff 2y agoI don't remember the exact timeline but I think SMS became free (bundled with mobile phone plan) in the US before WhatsApp became popular. And most of us don't interact via chat very much internationally. So (probably) most people just default to SMS/iMessage unless there's a reason to do something differently. And even the one person I regularly communicate with chat in Europe, we default to Facebook Messenger.
- briandear 2y agoPeople in Europe are poorer. Android is cheaper.
- tcmart14 2y agoI wonder if it is rooted in similar things though. Right, like with email. People don't really read or check emails because spam became a serious problem. Then with social media, looking at facebook, there is definitely a big different in ad space in facebook between the time I used to use it to now. Where ads have effectively become the "spam" equivalent for social media. Ultimately, did success of these technologies also lead to its demise. Email was so good, so it made sense for a market of spammers. Facebook became a prime place for ads, and as ads become more and more of the platform, people started to consciously or subconsciously step away to other platforms.
- inetknght 2y agoI think you've hit the nail on the head of the problem. A lot of comments online claim that people don't care about spam, or think that advertisements are a good thing for a free service, or at the very least won't change their habits if given an alternative. If that's the case then what's a better explanation for your observations? I argue that people do care, even if it's perhaps not expressed in words.
- PaulHoule 2y agoA lot of legitimate email (password resets and stuff) gets eaten up by spam filters
- mikeyouse 2y agoWe have a family email domain for my extended family, administered by a few retired but very tech-savvy relatives (both had long IT careers) and it’s roughly 50:50 whether a message sent to everyone@ lastname.com will actually show up in people’s inboxes or not. It’s probably 75:25 that a reply all to that list will show up, but modern email is a dumpster fire.
- StressedDev 2y agoI uses the business version of Office 365 for e-mail. It works well. I never have a problem with e-mails not being delivered or going into a SPAM folder. I am not saying your family did anything wrong. What I am saying is e-mail works well for some people.
- mikeyouse 2y agoYeah, unfortunately that seems to be the best way to handle this kind of thing but unfortunately that costs $6/person/month so our ~50 person casual email list for organizing fantasy football and family reunions would cost almost $4k/year.
- 2y ago
- stevage 2y agoI'm in my mid 40s, my friends mostly use email for organising events more than a week or two in the future, google chat or WhatsApp for more spontaneous things. Very occasional FB invites for things when casting the net wide, like, I'm back in town and having a picnic, everyone come.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- leptons 2y agoMy wife is late 40s and just deleted her facebook account, and she's the most FOMO person I know - and she did this because of zuck capitulating to trump. A lot of people have had it with companies supporting fascists.
- arvinsim 2y agoSo is she going to also do away with anything related to Elon, Tim and the like?
- leptons 2y agoYes. She's very serious about it.
- alt227 2y ago> zuck capitulating to trump So did Tim Cook. Is she binning her iPhone?
- leptons 2y agoWe don't have iPhones. We ditched Apple a long time ago.
- account42 2y agoLol so you/your wife were OK with all the spying and manipulation via ads but not being negative enough towards the democratically elected president is where you draw the line? Hysterical.