7.1.2. Youth culture
It has been proposed that a youth culture has developed around
new media that (a) includes shared rules, beliefs, and meaning
around media use and (b) is often invisible to adults (Oksman &
Turtiainen, 2004; Tulane, 2012; Tulane, Vaterlaus, & Beckert,
2015b). This youth culture was evident as young adults talked
about the unwritten rules and beliefs about Snapchat. Specifically,
how Snapchat could become annoying if used too frequently in
relationships and that jealousy could arise based on whowas on the
snapchatter's “best friend list.”
Vaterlaus and Tulane (2015) reported that generational differences
in purpose, use, and perceived ability to use social technologies
have been identified among parents and young
adultsdSnapchat was not a medium included in their study. Some
young adults in the current study indicated that there were
generational differences in Snapchat use and perceptions among
young adults and parents. Young adults were frustrated when
parents did not know how to use Snapchat correctly, or in consistent
ways with the youth culture surrounding media. It was also
implied that parents did not understand the functionality and
benefit of Snapchatdhinting at the invisibility of youth culture to
parents.