Social Media Is Being Invaded By Your Parents
This series of articles are brought to you by WeChat – the new way to connect.
Facebook is being invaded by your parents. What used to be a safe place to share pictures and jokes with your friends, is now a microscope into your private life, with every post and click viewed by Mum and Dad.
Although it boasts more than one billion monthly active users, the average Facebook user is now 38 years old. Even more surprising is that 45% of online adults aged 65 years or older are on Facebook, which means those pictures you posted from that party last weekend are likely being viewed by your grandparents as well.
Research shows the most common reasons we use social media are to catch up with friends and share our photos and videos. So where can you post and share without inviting those cringe-worthy parent moments?
WeChat is the newest way for young users to connect with friends and share their experiences, photos and videos. With more than 272 million monthly active users, WeChat is the world’s fastest growing social app, recently overtaking Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger to become 5th most popular worldwide.
More importantly, it’s the young users that are driving the growth: with a 1,021% increase in usage among 16 to 19 year-olds last year.
These teens have realised that WeChat offers a better, more private (and less embarrassing) way to connect through its ‘Moments’ feature. ‘Moments’ allows users to share thoughts, photos, links – whatever they want, with whoever they want. By adjusting the visibility settings, users can alert specific friends to their posts. All of their moments can be viewed in a timeline and only the friends they choose can comment and reply.
WeChat’s Group Chat feature also gives users more control over their conversations, away from the prying eye of Mum and Dad. Group Chats can be used by up to 100 friends, which can now be invited and join by scanning a QR code.
While Facebook’s privacy settings get more confusing, WeChat is making it easier to build a private social network, and putting users in control of who locates them, joins their friend list, and views their details.
So instead of de-friending your Dad, or sorting through dozens of quiz and app invites from your great Aunt, avoid the cringey comments and give WeChat a try!
