Your moms about to be on Snapchat!

 

Snapchat is on the verge of becoming more mainstream, and according to wired.com more users means many millennial’s parents will also use the application. Many teens and young adults rely of the fact that new technology, or new applications have UI’s (user interfaces) that are entirely too confusing for the older people to catch on to. This decreases the likelihood that they would even use the applications. However as the demographics of users grow, and along with it their age there is a chance that many young people may see their parents on Snapchat. For those of you who don’t know what Snapchat is, its basically a video messaging application where users can take photo’s, or video’s.

The business cycle for new technology is very different from other products. Although Snapchat is available to anyone with a smartphone the user is limited to the  number of people that they know who also have Snapchat, similar with Facebook and twitter. With Snapchat as it moves toward more mainstream use the younger demographic who covets the technology will now have to understand that they can expect older family members checking out their snaps as well.

Reflecting on this article made me think that the value of new technology or applications is sometimes derived from the exclusivity of that technology. For instance, initially I was a huge Facebook user however when my parents, and older aunties began using the website it didn’t offer the same use for me. This can make a huge difference in the number of users of a new website or app if the technology is not user friendly for an older demographic. Businesses may see this a value proposition in the future, allowing users of only a certain demographic to use their services so that it doesn’t reach the mainstream and devalue the brand. Maintaining that exclusivity can be a huge selling point for new tech in the future. 

- Baiyinah Brookins

http://www.wired.com/2016/01/hey-millennials-your-mom-is-about-to-be-on-snapchat/