In iMessages of Apple , traditional SMS text messages will be presented with a green background, while messages sent and received through traffic will be presented with a blue background. quoted the " Wall Street Journal " report that it is precisely because of this blue-green distinction and Apple's unique features that prompt teenagers to switch from Android to the iPhone camp.
The use of blue and green is no longer an indicator of the type of information, it is also a hint: showing that the user not only has an iPhone, but also can take advantage of features not available on other platforms. In the report, American teenagers were particularly sensitive to this blue and green color, saying not having an iPhone and seeing green messages seemed like a negative sign to them.
Michigan State student Adele Lowitz told the Wall Street Journal that she first noticed a difference in status when she tried using an Android device, prompting a member of her texting group to ask "Who is green?". Lowitz later discovered that group chats didn't work as seamlessly as they did on her iPhone, causing problems with FaceTime calls and the app used to find friends.
Lowitz said: "In my college circle, and in high school going into college circles, most people have iPhones and use a lot of iPhone-specific features. Considering Apple has effectively leveraged its capabilities to build a social networks and she felt 'some kind of pressure to get back to that'."
Lowitz was forced to use an Android device for a paid study, but she soon returned to an iPhone. "There was just too much stuff on Apple's network that I couldn't switch to," she said. One friend reportedly expressed relief that she was "back in the sky" after her return.
University of Florida senior Miles Franklin is an avid Android user. In 2020, he switched to an iPhone, in part because he enjoys using it to create TikTok videos. Jocelyn Maher, a master's student in New York, said she was laughed at by friends and her sister on dates if potential suitors used Android. "I was like, oh my God, his text was green, and my sister was just like, 'Ugh, that's disgusting,'" Maher said.
