The Venmo Line
An interesting article from Quartz popped up in my feed this weekend. It was interesting partly because it's from four years ago; why did it appear now and not sooner? But also interesting because its subject material that might seem oh-so of-the-moment is still topical. "The Venmo Line: Read what happens when a bunch of over-30s find out how Millennials handle their money" (published in Quartz, 7 Oct 2014).
The article grew out of a Slack chat among Quartz staffers about the micropayment system Venmo. In fact it basically is a Slack channel transcript, lightly edited for flow and to highlight age differences. In the transcript people are identified as under 30 or over 30. At the time this lined up neatly with the common definition of the Millennial generation. It turns out there is a stark difference in how Millennials versus older people view Venmo.
The older generation(s) are aghast at how much financial information Venmo users share publicly. Their bone of contention is that Venmo has a social media-like activity feed that allows everyone to see whom you're paying money to and for what. They fret not only about the oversharing with strangers around the world but also what the platform is doing with that information- given that selling your personal information is literally the business model for how modern apps operate. Will recruiters, lenders, etc. use that data to deny you jobs or credit if it suggests you're irresponsible with money?
The younger generation responds, basically, "What's the big deal?" The aspect of oversharing doesn't faze them. It's the only world they've ever known. As one Millennial memorably put it in a rant that went viral, "We are beholden to devices that spy on us constantly to benefit companies that exploit us." Plus, funny payment memos like, "Pay Jim back for hookers & blow" are just a joke; doesn't everyone know that?
My own 2¢ is that if Venmo were around when I was in my late teens through 20s- the age of Millennials in the article- I'd totally have used it. That's because it solves a problem I had when I was that age. I was going out with friends often, always having to figure out how to split the bill and remember who still owed whom a dollar or two from earlier in the week, and splitting rent, telephone, cable, electricity, gas, and grocery bills with housemates. Now all those household bills are paid from a joint account, shared with my wife. And splitting the bill when going out with friends is so much easier as a) we're well-off enough financially that we don't sweat small differences in who pays what, plus b) modern cash registers make it simple for restaurant staff to split checks.
The article grew out of a Slack chat among Quartz staffers about the micropayment system Venmo. In fact it basically is a Slack channel transcript, lightly edited for flow and to highlight age differences. In the transcript people are identified as under 30 or over 30. At the time this lined up neatly with the common definition of the Millennial generation. It turns out there is a stark difference in how Millennials versus older people view Venmo.
The older generation(s) are aghast at how much financial information Venmo users share publicly. Their bone of contention is that Venmo has a social media-like activity feed that allows everyone to see whom you're paying money to and for what. They fret not only about the oversharing with strangers around the world but also what the platform is doing with that information- given that selling your personal information is literally the business model for how modern apps operate. Will recruiters, lenders, etc. use that data to deny you jobs or credit if it suggests you're irresponsible with money?
The younger generation responds, basically, "What's the big deal?" The aspect of oversharing doesn't faze them. It's the only world they've ever known. As one Millennial memorably put it in a rant that went viral, "We are beholden to devices that spy on us constantly to benefit companies that exploit us." Plus, funny payment memos like, "Pay Jim back for hookers & blow" are just a joke; doesn't everyone know that?
My own 2¢ is that if Venmo were around when I was in my late teens through 20s- the age of Millennials in the article- I'd totally have used it. That's because it solves a problem I had when I was that age. I was going out with friends often, always having to figure out how to split the bill and remember who still owed whom a dollar or two from earlier in the week, and splitting rent, telephone, cable, electricity, gas, and grocery bills with housemates. Now all those household bills are paid from a joint account, shared with my wife. And splitting the bill when going out with friends is so much easier as a) we're well-off enough financially that we don't sweat small differences in who pays what, plus b) modern cash registers make it simple for restaurant staff to split checks.