For those who don’t know:

Texts from iPhone to iPhone appear as blue bubbles, while texts from Android users appear as green.

For many in the US who still use SMS to communicate, the blue/green bubble divide is a huge source of social conflict.

What’s your version of “If everyone knew this was a thing in my country, they’d think it was silly”?

  • underline960@sh.itjust.worksOP
    41·
    1 day ago

    Blue Bubbles vs Green Bubbles: Explained!

    The “Blue” vs. “Green” Bubble War is Insane.

    Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble

    https://archive.ph/u2GXB

    Grace Fang, 20-years-old, said she too saw such social dynamics among her peers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. “I’ve had people with Androids apologize that they have Androids and don’t have iMessage,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s Apple propaganda or just like a tribal in-group versus out-group thing going on, but people don’t seem to like green text bubbles that much and seem to have this visceral negative reaction to it.” Ms. Fang added that she finds the hubbub silly and that she prefers to avoid texting all together.

    ‘I’ve had people with Androids apologize that they have Androids and don’t have iMessage,” said Grace Fang.

    Jocelyn Maher, a 24-year-old master’s student in upstate New York, said her friends and younger sister have mocked her for exchanging texts with potential paramours using Android phones. “I was like, Oh my gosh, his texts are green,’ and my sister literally went, Ew that’s gross,’” Ms. Maher said.

    She noted that she once successfully persuaded a boyfriend to switch to an iPhone after some gentle badgering. Their relationship didn’t last.

    Such interactions have made fertile ground for memes on social media. During the pandemic, Jeremy Cangiano, who just finished up his MBA at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, dealt with his boredom on TikTok, quickly noticing that blue-bubble-green-bubble memes were popular among young people. He tried to cash in on it last year by selling his own merchandise that touted, “Never Date a Green Texter.”

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      11·
      1 day ago

      I’ve seen so many articles n this but still have a problem believing it’s real. I still think it’s a made up fad by journalists and no one really cares. That would be silly.

      When I asked my teens the answer was “no one uses iMessages and that’s not relevant on Insta”

      • underline960@sh.itjust.worksOP
        10·
        1 day ago

        You asked a legitimate question, and I provided three sources describing the phenomenon.

        Just because you haven’t experienced it personally (or met people who have) doesn’t mean it’s not real, either.

        Plenty of people haven’t met a gay or trans person in their life, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist or that issues they face should be dismissed out of hand.

        Dismissing the question doesn’t add to the conversation. If you don’t want to engage with the question, that’s fine. Don’t comment. Just downvote and move on.