As social media becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, more people use messaging apps to communicate with friends, peers, family, and coworkers.  Each app has unique features that set them apart from one another, from classic iMessage on Apple products to Snapchat and Instagram direct messages.

“GroupMe is great because you can like messages, and people without iPhones can join it too,” said sophomore Sofia Kuusisto.

GroupMe is a common app used for group messages when the user is connected to WiFi or data. The group chats and photos take up much less storage than if they are saved as a normal text.  Although it is useful to download the app, people can also receive messages as texts.  Many students also enjoy the feature that allows users to like each other’s messages.

Although many students enjoy GroupMe, others prefer social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat where people can share pictures, videos, and opinions quickly to large numbers of students or directly message one or a few at a time.

“Instagram and Snapchat are good because you can text a person without actually having their phone number,” said junior Emily Cavallaro.

Snapchat also offers a wide variety of filters, which allow users to add a playful twist to the classic picture-sending forum.

On the other hand, some high schoolers prefer to use the classic iMessage if they are Apple users.

“I like iMessage because it’s free, the easiest to use when sending photos or videos, has the widest emoji selection, is used by the most people, and uses less data than other messaging apps” said sophomore Ben Goldstein.

iMessage is a classic app that comes on most Apple products. If the device has the ability to use cellular data, it does not require WiFi to send and receive messages. With new updates, it is now possible to react to messages with more than just “likes”. Other reactions include “dislike,” “emphasis,” “love,” and “laugh at.”

There are so many different apps to use to communicate with others, and each is useful for different types of messaging.  When a student wants to share photos and videos with others, chat with a friend, or ask questions to a group of people, they can easily go on their phone or other electronic device.