In a social age of constantly redefined status symbols, we find them everywhere, whether it’s a Gucci belt, the hottest 2022 wheels or thousands of followers. Every generation of youth, through the decades, had their own way of symbolizing and signaling their place in the social strata, and for Gen Z-er’s in particular, it’s not just about your clothes or your follower count – it’s also about the color of your text messages.
The U.S.’s smartphone monopoly has long been dominated by Samsung’s Android and Apple’s iPhone, and overall, 85% of American’s now own a smartphone in general. Between them, there’s one of two (apparently) socially defining options – green or blue; green for texts sent from Android’s and any other non-phone technology, and blue for Apple’s traditional iMessage.
In a survey just published weeks ago, Gen Z reported 87% of American teenagers own an iPhone, and even millennials were shown to prefer Apple over Samsung products. This dominance has no end in sight, reflected not only in a generation’s clear technological and social preferences – but to the entire world’s. This month Apple reported that there are now over 1 billion active iPhones in the world, with sales and usage reported to be at an all-time high.
iMessage’s blue is something of a cultural phenomenon in and of itself, not just for being the exclusive color of texts sent only between iPhone owners, but for a universally recognizable stamp of entry into Apple’s curated universe of all things only for Apple users. And if you aren’t in the club, it’s likely Gen Z won’t allow entry any other way.
For Gen Z, receiving mutual messages in the infamous iMessage blue is essentially a signature on a social contract, an unspoken exclusive, cultural alliance. With iMessage – anything is possible; Facetime, location tracking, Apple Pay, custom emoji’s and effects to send each message with personal flare like confetti or balloons on the screen.
But, should a green text message bubble appear on a young iPhone user’s screen, it’s likely all bets are off. Call it what you want – snobbery, elitism or just straight-up personal product preference, but the teen worlds of green and blue are on different planets, dimensions, even social and class strata, according to some.
These color battles go so far as even to impact who is able to join a social circle, to the point where a green text bubble leaves you out of group chats and social networking in order to preserve the smooth technological dominance of an all iMessage group chat. Even Reddit user tapiringaround said, “I got my first iPhone a year ago after being a Nexus/Pixel person forever specifically because I was being left out of group chats with a lot of my family that already owned iPhones. It was like entering this whole world I’d been left out of.”
For some, that notorious Android green bubble is even viewed as a public embarrassment. Author Michael Arceneaux, in a personal essay he wrote about being text message dissed for his career choice said, “Thank God she hadn’t written that from an Android. The diss in green text would have been even more insulting.” And even when the green bubble isn’t looming on the screen, acknowledging your text message status online is ground for open attack.
In recognizing that striking iMessage blue as an exclusive, members only sort of club, it’s clear this cultural event has no end in sight as Apple’s dominance of the smartphone world leaves them virtually unparalleled by any competitors at this point in time, even Samsung. Interestingly, (in response to a Wall Street Journal tech editorial on the topic) head of Android Hiroshi Lockheimer tweeted, “Apple’s iMessage lock-in is a documented strategy. Using peer pressure and bullying as a way to sell products is disingenuous for a company that has humanity and equity as a core part of its marketing. The standards exist today to fix this.”
The only question that remains is, even if those standards exist today to fix this, would Gen Z and other Apple loving generations even want or use that “fix” (whatever that fix maybe)? For now, probably not, and for now, iMessage dominance reigns supreme.
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