Tech trends are known for shifting in the wind but there is no user group more fickle than those of the under 18 crowd. These days SMS is quickly becoming a thing of the past in lieu of social messaging apps. Depending on what they want to say teens are choosing a handful of apps to fit their needs. If they don’t want a message to hang around, they’ll use a temporary app such as Snapchat while Yik Yak offers anonymity and Kik offers a mixture of the two.
Must Know Text Messaging Acronyms and Shorthand
PAP – Post a picture
143 – I love you
Netflix and chill – Code for hooking up or a “booty call”
CD9 aka Code 9 – Code for parents are around
AF – Acronym “as f**k” used to express the severity of something (ie hot AF)
GNOC – Get Naked On Cam
OP – Original Poster
Likers get rate – This means the original poster will “rank” anyone who interacts with the post by rating them on looks/how cool they appear.
Kik Messenger is trending for a number of reasons. It allows users to send private messages that their parents can’t see. It offers the false sense of security of anonymity thru usernames and allows users to send text, pictures and video. But there’s more to Kik than meets the eye. In addition to unlimited text; you get ‘read’ receipts; can send individual group messages; surf the Web; and you access contents from within the app. Another concerning feature is that Kik allows users to search for people based on things like age and gender.
SnapChat has been growing exponentially lately especially within the teen demographic. It’s an app that was designed to make messages brief. Users can view the message for a limited amount of time before it disappears from the screen. However, a simple screenshot freezes that snap permanently to a user’s camera roll – something teens and adults learned very quickly upon release of the app.
Yik Yak is set up like a mixture of Twitter and Tinder. Like Twitter, it’s a free app that lets users post brief comments. Like Tinder, it’s geographically based. The comments are shown to 500 of the nearest Yik-Yak users (within a 1.5 mile radius). Kids are using it to share opinions, rumors, secrets, and gossip.
It’s important to discuss which messaging apps your teens are using and to establish an open dialogue about all things mobile safety. The web can be a scary place but proper dialogue, the right amount of parental advisory and staying “in the know” goes a long way to keeping our kids safe.
Surf and Sunshine is a member of the #VZWBuzz Lifestyle Blogger program. All opinions remain our own.
This is an awesome post indeed for parents. It is important for parents to know what the kids are using now days. I didn’t even know there were apps out there like this that the kids today are using. I will have to share this post with my friends who are parents. Thanks for sharing.
This is good to know for parents with kids that spend a lot of time chatting on their phones or online.
My kids use all of these apps! I don’t know how to keep up with them myself. I do use Snapchat sometimes, but I’m not very good at it! lol
The acronyms are very helpful! I’m going to use them with my daughter. ;)
Our kids have SnapChat, but they share it with us. I hate Yik Yak and I’m kinda scared of it. My kids are not allowed to have it.
This is such a great post. I have a tween now and they are getting into texting and all that. This is very helpful info.