Gone are the days when you could only access social networking sites on the web. Facebook, Orkut or MySpace, were the ones that set trends throughout the internet. However, in a few years, practically everything went to mobile, such as purchases or travel reservations. And so did social media! With teenagers immersed in their mobile screens more often than not, isn’t it clear that apps intended for social interaction will become an exciting trend among them? In addition, long-term investigations into common networking sites revealed that they struggled hard to find features that would give the rising generation a meaningful purpose through social apps in addition to ensuring their safety.
Unlike before, parents today also support a moderate use of such apps by their children because that makes them internet savvy and a social person. So while most of the teens flock to social apps, here are some prominent features or utilities of social media apps.
#1 Creation and customization of user profiles
Every social app allows users to create their personalized account or profile that is true to their identity in every way. Users have the option to display images, space to fill in all personal details, from birthdays to the school/institution they studied at. Such options to personalize their profiles the way they want works best in the interest of young people.
#2 Talk on the go
That is the key objective of each social network or application. Help people chat with people in their circle on the go. The apps come with a wide range of texting features (multilingual typing, emojis, GIFs, stickers, font styles, etc.). Not only that, there are important tangible features like voice/video calls that tether teens to the app for hours.
#3 Newsfeed
Social networking apps that go beyond messaging, have a news feed or space that compresses the activities of all other users. So, one can see the photos, events and other whereabouts of the people within their network. This gives them the opportunity to start interacting with others by liking, commenting or sharing your posts.
Also, many entertainment/media channels, business companies, communities, are joining the social media bandwagon by opening a custom page. Thus, users can view news posts about their respective fields.
#4 Share and upload
Most of the apps rule the social world due to their unmatched advantage of photo/video sharing and cloud saving. Meaning, once you upload an image or video, it’s saved on the web for the life of your account until you want to delete it. Each account has its own storage space. Also, the chances of data getting deleted from there are very rare.
#5 Surveys and Q&A
Many social apps give users the option to engage in some real constructive activities in addition to sharing photos, videos, or clicking selfies! A poll-based or Q&A feature on many apps, including Facebook, allows young people to post a question and let followers answer it. Thus, users can enjoy real informative discussion and improve their knowledge on the go.
In short, in addition to allowing young people to expand their circle of friends, share opinions, events, photos/videos, social networking applications also allow them to absorb a lot of information about anything. Newsfeeds, public pages, advertisements, and promotional videos are becoming a central part of apps. Surely, these are making them more interesting and useful for teenagers, especially those who don’t realize it.