So there's a lot of talk about where the kids these days are doing all of their messaging, especially around the blue bubble/iMessage/RCS debate and here's the thing—the kids aren't there. That's not where people are messaging the most.

If Not iMessage, Then Where?

So when I was in high school from 2016–2020, Snapchat is where it was at. That's where everyone was doing their messaging, and this doesn't seem to have changed very much. I don't personally use Snapchat at all these days, but I can't help but feel its ubiquity with other populations.

The other main places where people are messaging is Instagram and Discord. iMessage is really just reserved for family and some individual conversation. Other than that you're looking at anyone on SMS would be in the Messages app.

Keep in mind there's no such thing as "the iMessage app".

Yes, We Know This is a US Problem

At least our messaging isn't [entirely] owned by Meta. So there's that. It's actually built off the back of semi-open standards. So please stop talking about it. I use WhatsApp a lot. I hate it. I will never willingly use it.

Why is There All This Talk About Bullying Then?

I can confirm, as someone who went to an American high school, that this isn't something that happened really all that often. That's not to say it didn't happen. I do personally know of some people who would be left out of chats because of it, but that mostly fell by the wayside, and it was met with a response of "why would you care" from a lot of people, regardless of their preferred messaging platform.

Have You Considered That Kids Are Assholes?

Okay so here's something I don't know if you remember about being in middle/high school: kids are mean. That's really it. Should Apple be profiting off this? Probably not. Are they? Eh, kinda. But not to any significant extent.

Yes, iMessage is viewed as a large competitive advantage for the company, but that's more as a barrier to switching than it is enticing new users.

Where Have I Seen This Be A Problem

I've actually seen this problem more prevalent with adults than with kids. The adults who just use the stock apps on their phones, and not the trendy social media apps. And with that I say: grow up? It's really not that hard to not be a jerk as an adult. Kids are learning, but they all solved that problem using other platforms. It's adults. And that's kinda sad.

The Benefits of RCS Messaging

Okay we all know what's great about RCS over SMS, but it's still behind iMessage. And that's fine. The continued development of the standard will be a net positive for people who use their standard messaging apps, I genuinely believe that. But the idea that there's some giant issue isn't really true.

Conclusion

Keep in mind, this is a recounting of my personal experience, I'm not going to try and generalize it to the whole population, but I grew up in this demographic. I'm part of the population that these people are talking about and I'm saying that experience is, at the very least, not universal. Are you also part of this demographic? What do you think about this issue? Let me know over on Mastodon.