Being a current college student, it might come as no surprise to you when I say that Instagram is without a doubt the most frequently used app on my smartphone. According Business Insider, more than half of American 12- to 24-year-olds said they had an Instagram account in 2014, with an even larger number of people prospected to have created an account since the survey was taken. As you can see, this is the demographic I clearly fall under.
There are many appeals to using the platform, most of which come from the app’s most basic purpose and functionality. Instagram has gained its marvel from being a platform that offers the service of social communication along with aesthetic appeal to provide a forum for artistic production for its users.
Personally, I enjoy Instagram more so because of the social component present when scrolling through my feed; however the aesthetics is what keeps me posting and coming back for more. It is very popular amongst my peers, so it is a cool way to check out what everyone is up to or where they are etc.
Venmo
For those not familiar with Venmo, it is an app that makes financial transactions social. The app allows its users to pay and request money from their friends, acting as a virtual wallet to most. Venmo’s demographic consists mainly of users ages 18 to 24, with college kids making up the largest portion of that faction.
It’s safe to say kids aged 18-22 are proactive when it comes to going out and spending money, and a common misfortune that occurs when a group of friends go out is having a few peers that don’t have enough accessible cash to do whatever it is the activity may be. In these circumstances, friends will usually lend money to the person in need. However, the problem that too often occurs with this is that your friend “forgets” to pay you back, or pushes it off long enough that you, yourself, forget. Venmo aims to end this all-too-common mishap. Venmo acts as a safety net that enables kids to be reimbursed immediately after lending a friend, or peer money by sending the appropriate amount through your phone via Venmo. The common lingo among college kids these days is now, “Just Venmo me!” rather than the wretched, “Yeah don’t worry, I’ll pay you back later…”
Additionally Venmo has integrated a social component into the app through use of its memo line. Like a check, the memo line is used for stating what you are paying the allotted amount of money for; however many users tend to use the memo line as a forum for posting witty comments.
Overall, Venmo is a platform whose convenience should appeal to just about anyone living in the ever-growing modern tech age. It is ideal for people who make copious amounts of small transactions, or for people who simply don’t like to carry around cash.
*Venmo works using your credit/debit card. Once the app is installed, you wire your card to the app – allowing all transactions to take place virtually.
Yahoo Mail
As you can guess, as I college student I am constantly having to use my phone to send emails to professors and colleagues either on the go or at times when I don’t have access to a computer. While I also have a Gmail account, a majority of my emails are sent through Yahoo.
Facebook Messenger
I hardly ever go on Facebook nowadays to actually post something or to see what friends are up to – I mean, who has time for that? The only time I do logon is to either chat with friends or to get in touch students or peers whose phone numbers I don’t already have. This is why I love Facebook Messenger. Messenger allows me to utilize all the best parts of Facebook’s chat functionality without having to deal with the constant, annoying and insignificant notifications, wall posts, and ads Facebook also has to offer. The apps interface is extremely simple and can send messages even while other apps are being used. It also allows me to hold several different conversations at once through use of its multi-tab function.
Snapchat
Perhaps a year or two ago you might not have seen Snapchat on my list of most frequently used apps. However about 8 months ago, as I feel is the case with just about all smartphone users in the past 12-24 months, I hopped on the Snapchat bandwagon and haven’t looked back since. I mainly use the app to keep up to date with friends, relatives and, as of late, celebrities via their Snapchat stories. Snapchat has transformed from a dinky app used by middle schoolers and high school kids to take and send silly selfies, to a powerful, influential platform that now employs media from all over the globe, and is now becoming a popular destination for formal, big-name brands.
