Apart from the camera icon itself, how many apps open to a camera frame?

None?  QR code scanners, maybe?

For an adult, the first response is that they opened the camera by mistake.

There's a sense of being stuck in a space they don't understand

Maybe it wasn't intentional.

That's exactly what Snapchat has achieved.

Over 200 million people use it everyday.

And its a sliding scale of users who practically disappear by age 50

Using pictures to talk to friends does not make sense to them.

And having the pictures disappear after a few seconds is even more mystifying

Snapchat translated the conversations classmates have with each other

Without being caught by teachers. Or any other adults, for that matter

They went in a completely different direction from Instagram

Of being able to express yourself to a close circle of friends all day long by sending photos to each other.

It's still something adults don't understand and will not bother to learn.

To them, pictures belong in albums. 

Let's not even get into the AR lenses bit.

It's the best world for young people to be in.

Older people are truly clueless about how it works. Or why.

When did you grow up?

Do you remember the time you accepted you were no longer a child?

You went to sleep on the eve of your birthday at 17 and woke up as an 18 year old

Growing up legally means being 'old enough' to drive a car or vote.

In your mind, were things any different?

What does the term signify?

Age, attitude or awareness?

Was it when you left home and made your own decisions?

Was it when you graduated?

Or landed your first job and got your pay cheque?

Was it when you realised you were responsible for the decisions you made?

Ancient tribes made the process painful and physically grueling

Coming of age was carefully choreographed to drive home the point that growing up was somewhere between a tragedy and a triumph.

That's barbaric but it's now swung to the other extreme

Today's generation is protected and brought up to believe anything can be achieved.

The struggles are all in the mind.

Of measuring up to social aspirations and setting goals 

What we've lost in the advancement of technology and the rise of the individual are the ties of community.

The gap that a million followers and social media will never fill

When the postman is your best friend

He would arrive sometime around noon on his daily rounds.

Except on Sundays.

And in the age before the internet, the postman was the most anticipated visitor of the day.

Would he bring a letter calling for an interview?

You picked up small things - the squeak of the cycle pedals, the shuffling walk, the bunch of letters in his hand as he went through them to pick out the one meant for you.

He rarely smiled or made eye contact. The peculiar shade of the earthy uniform, khaki, made dust invisible

On most days, it was a disappointment. Bills or receipts you had no use for.

Job seeking was tortuous. Handwritten applications neatly composed after going through endless job ads from newspapers. Deposited into red postboxes with a silent prayer.

It would take a few weeks before there was a response.

Not the ping of a mobile notification that young people today are familiar with.

There was no instant gratification. 

And the occasional rejection was enough to darken your mood for a week.

That was probably a blessing because it was spaced out.

You learned patience without knowing it.

The slow drip of anticipation until that chapter in your life ended.

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