When Generation X went to school, there were few ways to keep in touch with friends after graduation. The home phone number written in the yearbook was the only way to contact them. However, when Internet technology developed and 'I Love School' came into being, it seemed like a new world had really opened up. I was really grateful for the development of technology to be able to meet my friends from elementary school and my high school classmates again. And when 'Cyworld' came along and I could create my own homepage online and communicate with people I know there, 'This is the future!' There was a time when I admired it. These days, I communicate with many people on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. In particular, I think Instagram is the trend these days, but not long ago, Z spoke to me first. It seems that the fathers generation thinks of Instagram and the generation Z thinks of Instagram are different. I wanted to know what that meant, so I asked Z a few questions.
Jaeguk X: How do Generation Z use Instagram?
Z Yeonwoo: Adults often communicate through Instagram, but we mainly use it as an archive. Usually, there are many cases where you use a main account and a sub account, but this account is a place where you put your own emotions unconditionally. So, I often upload stories rather than posts, and I often use the 'direct add' function to more info stories. With the 'direct add' function, a user creates a "April dump, what's your April?" If you upload photos of memorable events that happened in April as a split story, the user's friends share it and it spreads around the world. And most of my friends run a sub-account, but I think I use it for the purpose of keeping the sub-account private and communicating with only a few really close friends, uploading daily photos, and sharing stories about idol fans or funny releases. Sometimes, when you don't want your account to be known to others, you write your bio in a foreign language on a foreign profile picture like a hacker account and disguise it so that no one can access it.
Jaeguk X: He said he would never let 인스타 좋아요 늘리기 mom and dad see him. So what kind of Instagram do Gen Z think is cool?
Z Yeonwoo: When other people see my Instagram, “Oh! I think it's important to be able to say that I have emotions. If you want to do Instagram like that, first of all, the ID is better if there are not many numbers or underbars. Set it up by changing a lot like 'castle'. Putting the word 'watermelon' like daddy, or putting numbers like birthday or phone number at the end like 1206 at the end of the ID like mommy is really old-fashioned. I think it's better not to set your ID with your name or a number related to yourself, and it's better to just set it up with a pretty-looking alphabet combination. And I think it's cool to have more followers than following. Also, when posting a story, instead of writing an explanation, replacing it with an emoticon is the Z generation style. It's also a feature that I don't use hashtags.