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Comment by Friskyseal

2 years ago

It absolutely happens in real life because of basic human nature. It creates friction in relationships, and even the most minimal amount of unecessary friction can cause divides or make it harder to connect. You seem to underestimate how lazy people can be.

Imagine in 2010 you meet a potential romantic partner and they say, "Hey! Add me on Facebook!" And you reply, "Oh, I'm not on Facebook... can we just talk on the phone instead?" The person may go, "Oh, umm... sure, I guess." But then you never connect because you haven't made it as easy as possible; you've introduced a tiny amount of friction that a lot of people are just not willing to tolerate. If everyone else is on Facebook, why aren't you?

In real life, it creates so much friction that yes, there is pressure to buy an iPhone and change your entire software ecosystem just to fit in and remove this barrier to relationships. It's just text messaging; it's ancient technology at this point and no company should have a monopoly on it in any form. At a minimum they should let other operating systems download iMessage—show them ads, charge a fee, I don't know. But creating a hardware-enforced wall around basic telecommunication is wrong.

4 comments

Friskyseal

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ziddoap  2 years ago

>It creates friction in relationships

I do not understand how the color of a chat bubble creates friction. I text Android friends the same way I text iPhone friends. We exchange phone numbers, then we text each other.

  • Galaxy9000  2 years ago

    You sound very rational as the core function of a text is maintained. It's a fact that Apple neuters the features when texting Android. It's a social faux pas to have android as a kid, in college, or even as adults.

    For me personally, I find that young professional women on the dating scene see it as a signal / red flag for lack of status or wealth when starting an interaction. It puts you in a negative light at the start of it dating, whether a tease or serious concern. There's dumber things people judge, but this is up there. Once you establish trust and comfort, I haven't found issue with texting in this scenario.

    So there's initial friction in some cases like dating. And with children/families there's ongoing friction.

  • natechols  2 years ago

    This must be some kind of sharp generational divide, right? I'm over 40 and I can't think of anything that has made me feel as old as I do reading the "green message shame" discourse.