Is Your Teen Missing Out? Discover the Sizzling New Social App Trends Every Cool Kid is Using!
As a parent, you may often wonder what your teen is up to with their smartphones glued to their hands. We all know the high usage of social media among teenagers, but how do we ensure they are not missing out on new and trendy apps that their peers are using?
Here, we will be exploring the hot new social app trends every cool kid is using that your teenager may not want to miss!
- TikTok
This app has taken the social media world by storm with its extensive collection of short videos. With a reported 800 million active users worldwide, teenagers cannot get enough of the creative and entertaining content it offers. TikTok also allows users to create their own videos with editing and sound features, making it a fun and engaging way for teens to express themselves.
- Houseparty
With everyone stuck at home due to the pandemic, Houseparty has become the go-to app for in-app group video calls with friends. The app also offers games, making it a virtual hangout spot for teenagers.
- VSCO
VSCO is a photo editing app that has become increasingly popular among teenagers. It offers presets that can make photos look like they were taken on a film camera and has a huge variety of editing tools for users to play around with. Teenagers can also share their edited photos and interact with fellow VSCO users.
- Snapchat
Snapchat has been around for a few years, but it continues to be a popular app among teenagers. It’s known for its disappearing messages, but it also offers photo and video filters, chat features, and games.
- Marco Polo
Marco Polo is another app that has gained popularity during the pandemic. It allows users to send short video messages to friends and family, making it a more personal and interactive form of communication.
As a parent, it’s essential to understand the social apps your teenagers are using and ensure that they are using them safely. Encourage them to follow age restrictions and privacy measures and to avoid sharing personal information online.
In conclusion, social app trends among teenagers are constantly changing, and it can be challenging to keep up. However, by understanding the latest apps and ensuring their safe usage, you can help your teen stay connected with their friends and social circles. So go ahead, explore the sizzling new social app trends, and may your teen have fun!
Social networking is constantly evolving. Gone are the days when MySpace ruled the web. Now, practically everyone’s gone mobile, with more than 95 percent of teenagers owning a smartphone.
With Facebook skewing toward older users, what are the social networking and messaging services drawing younger people? Here’s a look at the top social app trends for teens.
Warning
Parents should be sure to educate themselves and their teens on the dangers of online child predators.
YouTube
You might think YouTube would be the granddaddy in this bunch, but you’d be wrong. YouTube is wildly popular with teens and tweens, who visit the site at a level that’s almost doubled in the past three years. YouTube added a strong influencer and vlogger base to what was once primarily a passive content-consumption website, and the teens love it.
Huge variety of topics.
Innumerable amount of videos.
Can add commentary and reviews to videos.
Can save videos to a watchlist for later viewing.
Many videos have ads.
YouTube has problems with commentary and child predators.
No way to really filter undesirable video topics.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a popular private messaging app known for photos and short videos that are automatically deleted after they’re viewed. For teens, this “self-destructing” feature is a big part of what makes Snapchat so appealing, encouraging them to interact more frequently, safe in the knowledge that all their previous snaps disappear.
Simple interface.
Can take pictures or video.
Share your pics with friends or the public.
Fun avatars created through Bitmoji.
More real-time communication.
Lots of filters and lenses make chatting fun.
If using location services, it can be intrusive.
Ads show up in the Discover part of the app.
Snapchat isn’t just a media-sharing app. You can even use it to send money to your friends.
Privacy, sexting, and screenshot saving have posed some issues for Snapchat, but it remains one of the hottest apps with teens.
Facebook may rule social photo-sharing on the web, but Instagram is arguably the mobile social photo-sharing leader. Although it doesn’t openly share how many of its users are teens, it’s easy to see that this mobile social platform is filled with young people. Check out the photos on the Explore Page or search through some popular hashtags to get a glimpse of how young the dominant demographic truly is on Instagram.
Great place to share photos and videos.
Easy to post photos and videos.
Edit images and add filters for visual effects.
Fewer ads than its counterparts.
Easy messaging integration with Facebook.
Quite a few spam or illicit accounts.
Can’t post clickable URLs.
While Instagram is primarily used as an app on iOS and Android devices, it’s also possible to view your account via a web browser. Instagram also makes it easy and seamless to merge your Instagram and Facebook social lives. For example, you can direct message your Facebook friends through Instagram or find Facebook friends who are also on Instagram to follow.
Lots of kids still use Facebook Messenger to get in touch with their friends, but Facebook also owns another messaging app called WhatsApp.
End-to-end encryption.
Can edit pics with clipart, filters, and more.
App allows two different accounts on Android.
App needs all parties involved to use WhatsApp.
Earlier versions were prone to crashes.
WhatsApp boasts 1.5 billion users as of early 2021, and the app’s users aren’t just texting. WhatsApp also lets you post status updates, send videos, share your location, and make voice and video calls over the internet. The platform is completely isolated from Facebook, so teens don’t need to worry about the two overlapping.
WhatsApp is compatible with Android phones, iPhones, Macs, and Windows computers.
Kik
Like WhatsApp, Kik has become an insanely popular messaging app for teens. It’s just one of the other fast and intuitive messaging apps used as an alternative to SMS texting, requiring only a username rather than a phone number.
Can join public chat groups on a variety of topics.
Searchable GIFs, stickers, and more.
Free additional emojis available for download.
You can even create and send your own memes.
No moderation in public chatgroups.
Messages can be slow to send.
Instagram users sometimes list Kik usernames in the bios so that other Instagrammers have another way to contact them privately.
Telegram
Telegram is interesting because it does a lot more than a typical texting app, and it’s completely free with zero advertisements.
Available on a variety of platforms.
Encrypts your messages.
No ads.
You have to wait two minutes to receive an SMS code when getting started.
There can be problems when verifying a new phone.
Numerous reports of long delays getting access to app.
All the texts and phone calls are encrypted through Telegram, and you can send absolutely any file type you want, even large ones up to 1.5 GB. This is unique to most messaging apps that support image and video files.
The messages are synced across all supported devices because the messages and files are stored in the cloud. You can delete texts whenever you want and make secret chats that dissolve messages on a timer. You can also address up to 5,000 of your closest friends in one single group message.
Telegram is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. The web version lets you access Telegram from any computer without installing the software.
Teens have taken a liking to the Twitter microblogging social network, which is a hub for real-time news and connecting with high-profile individuals and celebrities. Because Twitter is so simple to use from a mobile device, it’s convenient to access, but it’s the visual component of embedded multimedia, such as photos, articles, and videos, in tweets that attracts most teens.
Instant gratification of newsworthy or entertainment info.
You can choose between top trending tweets or tweets as they happen.
Many famous people use the app, making for interesting reading.
Great way to interact with your favorite TV shows via Tweet Chat.
Your tweets can easily get lost in the shuffle.
Tweets still have a character limitation.
Hard to keep up with feed if you follow a lot of people.
Users can get on Twitter from their computer, phone, or tablet. See all the different ways you can use Twitter on its apps page.
Tumblr
Tumblr is one of the web’s most popular blogging platforms, and a lot of teens have admitted to trading in their Facebook accounts for a Tumblr blog instead.
Can post a blog, video, pics, and even animated GIFs.
Freely express yourself with blog-like posts.
Suggested posts help you find content related to what you just liked.
Few to no ads.
Has had problems with adult content in the past.
Tumblr has had some censorship complaints.
Hard to build a following.
Like Snapchat and Instagram, Tumblr is largely dominated by visual content and has become a favored platform for animated GIF sharing. Although it allows its users to create blog posts in all sorts of formats, including text, audio, quote, and dialogue, it’s the visual content that makes time spent on Tumblr worth it.
Tumblr can be downloaded on Android and iOS. It also works through a web browser.
ASKfm
ASKfm is a Q&A-based website and app that lets its users take questions from their followers, then answer them one at a time, any time they want. It gives youngsters another reason to talk about themselves other than in the comment section of their own selfies. Although ASKfm may not be as huge as Instagram or Snapchat, it’s a good one to watch, for sure. With such a big interest from teens, it has the potential to become the go-to place for Q&A content.
Interesting way to get to know someone.
Can ask anything.
Photo polls are a fun way to start a conversation.
Difficult to find subjects you want to read.
Can’t easily search for specific posts.
You have to follow at least three friends to earn “coins” for profile features.
Potential for cruelty or bullying.
You can use this service on the web and through the ASKfm mobile apps.
Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day
