By: Krystle & Aleysha
Walking
down the hallways of SEGi university, amidst the chatter and hubbub of students
going about their day-to-day business, one little detail stands out loud and
clear: in every group of students, at least one has a hand stretched out,
fingers grasping onto the lifeline of the 21st century – a
smartphone. Whichever manufacturer you choose, if you’re checking the daily
news, talking to a friend half a world away or shooting a little red bird at a
wall of green pigs you’re using what could arguably be the most intriguing part
of owning a smartphone: apps.
To
find out which apps have SEGi students hooked onto their gadgets, we’ve
conducted a small survey of 27 students, sampled from a variety of faculties.
The
biggest winners, by far were Whatsapp and Instagram. The social apps have a
combined total of 60% of the students listing them as their favorite. Whatsapp
users expressed that it enables them to connect and chat with friends and
family members instantly and for free, thus replacing the traditional SMS. Mark
Ryan, an ADP student, added that it is one of the most stable messenger apps
out there. Instagram users, on the other hand, loved that the app allowed them
to take, edit and share pictures almost instantly. One fan, Hanna Narimah says
she also follows professional photographers for inspiration. The smaller
percentages of social apps were made up of Twitter, WeChat and Viber – apps
allowing instant micro-blogging and messaging for free with the added bonus of
free calls in the case of Viber.
Aida
and Divyashine picked games as their favourite apps
A
smaller percentage of roughly 10% was made up of students who chose games as
their apps of choice. While their specific answers were different – Mr. Crab,
Hay Day, and Angry Birds – they all agreed that it was a fun way to pass the
time. Narissa Nur expressed that she loved playing video games ever since she
was a kid and playing games on her mobile phone was simply a case of moving to
a new platform. An even smaller percentage chose miscellaneous entertainment
apps, in particular YouTube and Sketchbook. Only one student selected a utility
app – Planner, as their favourite.
Smartphone
users Raveena Devi, Abigail Palmer and Rahula Loh with their favourite apps
While
absolutely nobody paid for their favourite app, we found that some would
consider paying quite a hefty sum to have it returned, as is! Gamers Divyashine
Asokumar and Aida Anura Azman would pay RM 20 and RM 50 to retrieve their games
at the current level they’re on, while the Whatsapp users chimed in with
amounts ranging from RM10 to Raveena Devi’s enthusiastic assertion of RM150 to
retrieve lost messages. The Instagram users were not to be outdone, with Rahula
Loh stating she would gladly pay RM100 to retrieve her Instagram account. The
highest amount by far was a Sketchbook user who would gladly pay RM250 to have
his app returned.
Almost
all of our respondents spend about 2 to 5 hours on their favourite apps per day.
Justwin Tan, currently doing a degree in Public Relations says she spends
almost every waking second on Whatsapp – she even uses it in the loo!
With
so much time spent in close contact with the apps, we asked our respondents how
these apps have affected their lives. Almost all agreed that it comes down to
the social benefits – chat apps allow them to connect easily to friends and
family, gamers find solace with other users of the same app, while some have
even made friends over Instagram. Abigail Palmer states that YouTube allows her
to stay on top of trends and this keeps her clued in to the interests of her
friends. It’s all a whole lot of fun, says gamer Narissa Nur, until someone’s
battery runs out!
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