5 things my teenage sister does on social media that baffles me

My teenage sister and I are both avid social media users, but our jarring 11-year age gap makes our different social media habits stand out. Today, I expose and “discuss” some of the things she (and/or her friends) does that really, really baffles me…

Quick disclaimer: I’m in no way an expert in social media, or in the psyche of teenagers/social media users of today. This entire piece is based on the observations I’ve made in my life, and experiences I’ve accumulated on my own. Like I mention later too, I share my judgy comments, so I’m not writing this to be politically correct, that’ll be boringgg.

1. Holding each other’s Instagram accounts

What it means: You know how Instagram allows you to be logged into multiple accounts? My sister and her friends are logged into each other’s accounts. So they get free access to each other’s DMs, archived posts, and what-not. (Update: the group has since been disbanded because one of them got attached and want to maintain his/her privacy LOLLL.)

Why? When asked, she said it’s so they can see each other’s archives, or snoop at other people’s accounts which are private. Although really, there wasn’t a really good reason she could give me hahaha.

😒 Being judgy: I know social media is meant to be social, but this sounds like some strange clique initiation to prove that the group is tight. This arrangement also means your clique can only have 5 people, since Instagram only allows you to be logged into 5 accounts. And what if you want to slide into your crush’s DMs? Is there no privacy?! Sharing passwords is quite a personal thing for me… I don’t think I’d want to do that, ever.

😌 Being nice: I found it genius that they can use each other’s accounts to stalk other people HAHA, because everyone’s a little nosy sometimes. -smirks- If you want to see someone’s private account, but you’re not bothered to request to follow, just use your friend’s account! How convenient!

2. Using WhatsApp Status…

What it means: WhatsApp Status functions like Instagram Stories or Snapchat, but housed on a much. more. uncool. app. My sister’s friends are real avid users of Status, though some still use Stories, or both. In fact, they only use Status for sharing messages or quotes – it almost seems like Twitter but with an expiry date?

Why: I don’t think I ever got a proper reason from my sister, other than it just is what it is. I have no idea why these teens have taken a liking to WhatsApp Status. Is there something cool about Status that I don’t know of? Enlighten me please.

😒 Being judgy: I love Instagram Stories! There are so many interactive elements to them, and it’s on Instagram – my favourite social media platform. Why would anyone still want to use WhatsApp Status?!?! Also, out of my 300+ contacts, none of them use Status, and I don’t blame anyone!! In other news though, still no one uses Facebook Stories hahahaha. And Telegram is better than WhatsApp migrate please.

😌 Being nice: I don’t have anything nice to say about WhatsApp Status. Instagram Stories is the way to go. According to my sister and my own observations through her account, it seems that loyalties are split. Her friends who use Stories take more videos and snippets of their life (like everyone else), as opposed to the text quotes on Status. But be it Instagram or WhatsApp, there’s something they really love to post… keep reading…

3. The obsession with Q&As!!!

What it means: I’m not referring to Quora, more like Ask.fm or Sarahah. Especially with the new Questions feature on Instagram Stories, the obsession with Q&As continues to persist… Teenagers seem to really love answering questions about themselves these days.

Why: This isn’t particular to just teenagers! I guess it’s interesting to ask anonymous questions (I know I have), or to see what people are curious about. The questions are really teenager-like though, eg. who they think is the best looking in school, do they have a crush on X, etc. Lol, oh to be young.

😒 Being judgy: My sister actually doesn’t do these Q&As (although she uses Sarahah), and when asked, she said she just skips through all these screenshots. I feel the same way! Do you really care for the answers to those questions? I know I don’t HAHA. But I suppose the questions didn’t ask themselves… (I did use the questions feature on Instagram Stories once, and I got 3 questions HAHAHA clearly no one gives a crap.)

😌 Being nice: Well I no longer care about these teenage Q&As because I’m over it now and I got better things to do. Can’t really blame these young ones I suppose. I know I was very interested in school gossip and all that nonsense when I was their age.

4. Deleting or archiving their Instagram posts

What it means: You know the drill: You have a picture you want to post on Instagram, you edit it, post it, and… that’s it. BUT NO. The new drill these days involves posting a photo, then possibly getting rid of it a while later. This amazing meme reference website explains this phenomenon very well: feeling cute, might delete later.

Why: When I asked my sister why she archived her posts (they look perfectly fine and cute to me!), she said “idk”. She also agreed they looked nice to her now – which I think is the key. I guess they usually delete their photos because they’ve changed their minds or begin to feel insecure.

😒 Being judgy: If you’ve already posted it, why do you have to delete it?! Everyone who would see it has already seen it anyway??? I go through quite a clear thought process when I want to post something online for the world (being a tad dramatic) to see. I commit the full way, which means I don’t think about going back once I’ve posted it.

😌 Being nice: Okay, I actually relate to this the most. As a teenager, you struggle with so many insecurities: if people like you enough, if you’re pretty enough, or if you’re cool enough. To this day I’m still not very comfortable with posting selfies, or anything similar to a self-promo, eg. a blog shoutout. I struggle with whether the photo is good enough, and immediately after posting I exit the app so I don’t have to watch people respond to it. So I completely understand why some would choose to archive their posts, especially now that they have an option to, instead of deleting them forever.

5. Overly-enthusiastic comments IN CAPS

What it means: One of the babes posts an Instagram photo (typically a selfie or #ootd), and the rest of the squad attacks the comments with compliments – think compliment battles, but way more aggressive sounding. Usually done in CAPS.

Why: There must be some unspoken social rule that you have to comment on your inner circle’s posts every time they post something. Oh and don’t get me started on FLFC.

😒 Being judgy: WHY OH WHY. When I read the Instagram comments of my sister’s or my teenage cousins’ posts, it sounds really noisy in my head. Every comment is in CAPS, and it all comes with either the fire, 100, or a variety of heart emojis. It’s an explosion of enthusiasm that comes across a little much… “OMG YOU’RE SO HOT I AM CRYING.” ARE YOU REALLY CRYING? I WANT PROOF.

😌 Being nice: I guess it’s better that these young ones are out there spreading love and positivity (and fire emojis, heart-eyes, FLFCs) instead of spreading hate and negative comments. ALSO, I wish my friends were that active on commenting??? That way my engagement level increases, and Instagram will think my post is so amazing that it ranks me higher with the algorithm! How great will that be? -hint friends HINT-

Personally, I’ve always been interested in social media, especially since I work in advertising and it’s part of the package. It’s been exhausting to write this long post, but it was really fun to put everything together too. Special thanks to my little sister (mini JT) for sharing all these screenshots with me, and answering all my strange questions. She was actually quite happy to contribute to this post of mine!

tell me what you think!

Was it insightful to know about what the teenagers are doing these days? Damn it, we’re all getting old.

Do any of the behaviours above describe you? Let me know and share your reasons! I’d love to understand more and hear from others. What are some other trends you’ve noticed on social media that I haven’t mentioned? (I’m sure there are plenty!!) Share your thoughts with me please!

Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com is licensed by CC 3.0 BY