this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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For those who don't know:

Texts from iPhone to iPhone appear as blue bubbles, while texts from Android users appear as green.

For many in the US who still use SMS to communicate, the blue/green bubble divide is a huge source of social conflict.

What's your version of "If everyone knew this was a thing in my country, they'd think it was silly"?

all 33 comments
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[–] mumblerfish@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

People doing ski slopes in the cheese. Some people don't care, some get angry.

In Sweden we buy large hard cheeses and use the Norwegian cheese slicer

to get thin slices for our bread. Surely a superior way of eating cheese on bread. Anyhow, if you apply the pressure wrong you will deform the cheese into a ski slope shape over time

Some people are unbothered by this, which is completely insane.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 42 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Are there people who really view it as a social division? I've never met anyone who seriously thinks that.

[–] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

You probably don't interact with a lot of teens then. It's pretty common in high schools and college campuses. I was told a decade ago that my green bubbles were probably why women stopped texting me after I got their number off okcupid

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If someone is turning you down because of some stupid Apple-manufactured social status, you deserve better than them

//

Fwiw, my partner and I met on OkC 5 years ago. It used to be so much better. I got really high one day and answered like a thousand questions, which got me really accurate match percentages. Shame it's trash now.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)

my green bubbles were probably why women stopped texting me after I got their number off okcupid

Bullet dodged

[–] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Oh, OKC used to rock a decade ago. Before they started the monitization efforts they had over a thousand questions that you could pre-sort matches based off of their importance to both of you. There wasn't swiping, you just actually looked at profiles. It really rewarded writing good profiles which I happen to do well

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh, honey, that wasn't why...

[–] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

It was, I got laid plenty in college. I meant I would get a woman's number, text her, then she would give 2/3 responses and disappear. It stopped almost entirely when I switched to asking for Snapchat instead

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

As someone with basic knowledge of what it’s doing, I find it important to distinguish encrypted from unencrypted communications

[–] underline960@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Blue Bubbles vs Green Bubbles: Explained!

The "Blue" vs. "Green" Bubble War is Insane.

Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble

https://archive.ph/u2GXB

Grace Fang, 20-years-old, said she too saw such social dynamics among her peers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. “I’ve had people with Androids apologize that they have Androids and don’t have iMessage,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s Apple propaganda or just like a tribal in-group versus out-group thing going on, but people don’t seem to like green text bubbles that much and seem to have this visceral negative reaction to it.” Ms. Fang added that she finds the hubbub silly and that she prefers to avoid texting all together.

‘I’ve had people with Androids apologize that they have Androids and don’t have iMessage,” said Grace Fang.

Jocelyn Maher, a 24-year-old master’s student in upstate New York, said her friends and younger sister have mocked her for exchanging texts with potential paramours using Android phones. “I was like, Oh my gosh, his texts are green,’ and my sister literally went, Ew that’s gross,’” Ms. Maher said.

She noted that she once successfully persuaded a boyfriend to switch to an iPhone after some gentle badgering. Their relationship didn’t last.

Such interactions have made fertile ground for memes on social media. During the pandemic, Jeremy Cangiano, who just finished up his MBA at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, dealt with his boredom on TikTok, quickly noticing that blue-bubble-green-bubble memes were popular among young people. He tried to cash in on it last year by selling his own merchandise that touted, “Never Date a Green Texter.”

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I’ve seen so many articles n this but still have a problem believing it’s real. I still think it’s a made up fad by journalists and no one really cares. That would be silly.

When I asked my teens the answer was “no one uses iMessages and that’s not relevant on Insta”

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, you can make a video about anything. That doesn't make it real.

[–] underline960@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You asked a legitimate question, and I provided three sources describing the phenomenon.

Just because you haven't experienced it personally (or met people who have) doesn't mean it's not real, either.

Plenty of people haven't met a gay or trans person in their life, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist or that issues they face should be dismissed out of hand.

Dismissing the question doesn't add to the conversation. If you don't want to engage with the question, that's fine. Don't comment. Just downvote and move on.

Unfortunately they're on Blahaj, so they've never gotten the downvote message that they're dumb.

[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Care to elaborate for non-British/Irish people?

[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Scone should be pronounced scone and not scone.

In some parts of the country, it's pronounced to rhyme with cone, and in other parts it's pronounce to rhyme with gone. That would be simple but there is another orthognal dimension which is a demographic one (usually self-perceived class) which also influences the pronunciation.

It is, consequently, almost impossible to guess how any given person you meet might pronounce the word. And it is also something which, while seeming incredibly trivial, people here feel very strongly about.

I, of course, pronounce it correctly: scone.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

That's weird, everyone knows scone rhymes with spoon.

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wow, this is so quaint! I totally love this, thank you for explaining.
And I will now make sure to use the correct pronunciation during my next visit to the Isles (hopefully next year...)!

[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Just make sure you know which order to put your jam and clotted cream (or clotted cream and jam) on your scone before you come!

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 13 hours ago

Oh no, this is getting increasingly complicated... from a combinatorical perspective alone I now already see the potential of mortally insulting 3/4 of the people I will be meeting... 😯

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I am from Germany and what brand of car your are driving is often seen as a statement, often associated with a certain social group.
Although I have observed that this has been constantly diminishing over the years.

[–] KokusnussRitter@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

German, too. I don't own a car, but is this whole EV vs. combustion still as big a thing as it was 7 years ago? I feel it was a much bigger discussion here due to our car tradition/ obsession than in the US. Elon is a dipshit, and until that was apperent to everyone, EVs were cool due to Tesla

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Has it ever been?
I mean, outside of some mostly right-wing bubbles that are trying to exaggerate it as some kind of oppression symbol in a cultural war that happens mainly in their heads?

Most people I know treat the topic from a rather rational perspective regarding the pros and cons of EVs in their specific situations.

[–] KokusnussRitter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Really? I felt it was a major topic back then. Maybe due to the whole Fridays for Future Movement which I followed closely at the time and faced a lot of backslash from conservatives. Online bubbles :)

[–] Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

A very loud (i.e. present in social and normal media) but in my everyday life almost none-existent group of people.
They seem to have migrated from Diesel-against-Greta-"Empörung" (is there an English word for that?) to Corona-deniers and now to fighters in self-proclaimed cultural wars against green topics and a tolerant society. All sprinkled with some deep right-wing views.
Might be different in other parts of Germany though, my sample is mainly taken from Bavaria and south-western Germany.
I personally know of only two families leaning into Schwurbler-views - out of hundreds of chilled ones. One of these actually drives a Pickup. But also owns a house with a solar roof... so... well.

You live abroad now?

Yeah, I don't remember anyone from my rl social circle who was opposed to them. Maybe sceptical at first, I think is fair with bleeding edge tech. by now, some of them use an EV as their daily driver and are super happy.

I don't know anyone who I'd call "Schwurbler", so it didn't witness this shift of topis myself, but yeah, that tracks. Good for your neighbour though. I guess we are all quite complex creatures or it was simply a good investment xD

But no, I am still in Germany. I was just under the impression that Tesla was seen as cool in the US due to Musk's image as a funny, relatable internet guy back then, going as far as to Tesla's stocks only performing as well due to his very loyal online fanbase, while we in Germany were still to scared to even touch the damn technology, leading to a much higher adoption rate in the US then here. (What a monsterous sentence, I hope it makes sense) But I could be wrong.

“Empörung” (is there an English word for that?) Outrage, I think

[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Football (soccer) teams? I guess that's a common one, but people can get really violent about it over here, lol. We're all here enjoying football, something we all love (well, not me, but I'm getting in the mindset of those who do), there's barely any disagreement between us! 🙄🙃

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No, more like "City F.C." v "City United", lol.

[–] capuccino@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

do you chat by sms? are you ok?

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

its not really a thing in the us. never been a thing with me or my friends and im pretty sure this is one of those things where it came up but then was blown out of proportion where most everyone never really cared about it.