Do you know what the crisis that all of us have experienced at some point in our life is?

Boredom.

The distraction of activities we like to do and the people we like to be around can help get rid of that boredom. As we enter the ninth, full month of the pandemic: COVID-19, the idea of having to “quarantine” has lost its significance, seeing as businesses and schools have started to open back up with a few restrictions, and the enforcement of some things are slowly dying down. However, gathering in large groups is still seen as unsafe and frowned upon so getting to see friends and family can still prove to be a bit of a challenge. There are many different ways to keep in touch. Here a a few ways to keep in touch, as well as which ones are used the most among different age groups. This will be based on the average number of users on a daily and yearly basis as well as the company’s overall ratings and profits.

 I know that texting and calling are an easy answer to this worldwide issue, but sometimes they are not the most convenient option, and it’s always nice to have a backup plan. I asked around and looked at which platform is used the most among people of all ages from social media to different kinds of video calls, and all in between.

A couple of people from several age groups were interviewed: kids, teenagers, young adults, and older people anywhere from 50 years old and up. The goal was to find out which apps or social media they use the most to talk to others, here are the results. Among kids 12 or under many of them do not have phones, but based on the few that do, TikTok is the most used social media. TikTok formally is known as Musically is a video creating platform that allows creators to use existing sounds or make their own sound for others to use. There are thousands of videos from dancing and lip-syncing to just funny videos about any topic you can think of. The teenagers interviewed were very mixed, owning many types of social media and spending an alarming amount of time on their devices throughout the past couple of years. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, although they do not tend to upload on Twitter because it is mostly a platform for celebrities to post and tell the world about their opinions and experiences as well as inform them of anything. All of these are very well known so it is no surprise that kids will tend to go with the crowd and join the trend as well. 

Adults however are not up to date on the most popular apps that children use so they chose apps that were popular a while ago but still have a very large amount of daily users. Facebook is a very big business and platform that is not common among a lot of children but it has many practical uses that can draw in people that like more useful things than “cool” ones. I talked to a couple of people over the age of 55 and they had a lot of different answers. Some said Skype is another video service which allows the user to video call with someone else, it makes sense that they would prefer this because it is simple to use and allows them to easily communicate with their kids who have moved out and their grandkids to see what’s going on in their lives. Facebook again is used among the older generations, because they like the ability to upload and see photos, as well as the latest news that is talked about. 

The first app on the list of popularity has already been mentioned because it was a common choice among people when asked which app they used the most. It should come as no surprise to anyone seeing as it is one of the biggest companies of the decade and its platform hit just over 2.2 billion active users this year, that’s right, it’s Facebook.

As of August 2020, the age group that takes up most of facebook’s population are people anywhere from the mid-’20s to late ’50s and sometimes higher. It is a platform that is not used much among kids these days but used daily by older generations of all sorts. It comes with many features: you can create groups that people can join to meet people with common interests, keep in touch with friends and family from all over the world, and stay up to date on all the world’s latest news. While Facebook has made some enemies and is disliked by a handful of people, it deserves credit where it’s due for keeping such a big business running successfully all these years. 

While there are many popular social media platforms many of them are not used for the sole purpose of talking one on one with friends and family. A good example of this is Instagram. It has around 1 billion users and is mostly used to take photos and upload them to the general public that follows you and wants to know what you’re up to. There is a DM feature, also known as direct messaging, which allows you to privately communicate with one person similar to texting, even though this is a part of the famous app, it does not serve as its main intended feature. There is not a specific age group that can be found on Instagram, the percentage of the different ages of users are pretty even across the board, so it’s perfect for all kinds of people.

Now, on the other hand, the most popular app that is intended for specifically messaging someone is the messaging app called WhatsApp. Whatsapp is used in over 180 countries around the world and is most common in India with over 360 million users from that country alone. It is also used in the United States, but is more common in other parts of the world. The intended audience for this app is generally older people in their mid 30’s specifically in the US seeing as there are other means of communication among kids these days. 

 Zoom needed to be added to this list even though it certainly is not the most popular video call service nor does it make the most money; however, during this pandemic season, it has helped many schools and businesses stay functional. Zoom saw their revenue double between 2018 and 2019 and this year it is estimated to make even more.

There are many, many more apps that can be extremely useful and help during your troubles but this is just a shortlist of the top ones, as well as the most used among the handful of people I questioned. So, look around, try to get your family to sign up for one that works for you, and interest you the most. Stay connected with people, and suppress that feeling of boredom that resides in us all.