“Inside jokes and the funny things”: Belongingness in College Students’ Rhetorical Uses of Venmo

Abstract

Within the growing use of peer-to-peer mobile payment apps, Venmo has proven most popular among the college-aged population in the United States. “Venmo me” is a common phrase overheard among students on college campuses. Spurred by an exchange in a course focused on social media, we investigate the uses of Venmo among students on our campus. Through interviews, we examine students’ relationships to not only the transactional but also the rhetorical aspects of Venmo, especially the social feed (unique among peer-to-peer mobile payment apps). We reflect on three recurring themes in these interviews using the concept of public displays of belongingness: insider versus outsider, requesting payment, and digital intimacy.