If
you haven’t heard of Snapchat, you’re behind the times. Apparently, it’s the
hott app for kids these days. But if you want to know anything about it, don’t
Google it. Give me a min, sit right there and I’ll tell you all about the
amazing fun Snapchat has to offer.
Initially
released in 2011, Snapchat is a free image sharing application. Available on
iPhone and Android, users can take photos, videos and add text or drawings to
be sent to anyone else who has Snapchat. A time limit of 1 second to 10 seconds
can be set on how long the snaps can be viewed by recipients. After this time,
the image cannot be viewed again.
Like
with any other problem with the Internet, you always get those that ruin it and
use it to send naughty pictures. The idea that you can send pictures to select
individuals that will disappear after 10 seconds, inevitably leads to horny
teens to send badly lit images of their private bits. Now I’m not saying that
that’s not one way to use the app. But there is so much more to be explored! So
much more fun and scheming to be had!
The
annoying thing about Snapchat is, if you decide you want to send your snap to
everyone, you have to go through and select every person on your contact list.
There is no option to select all. Come on Snapchat, want to send this ugly face
to EVERYONE. Some users like to snap when they’re drunk. Waking up that next
morning to a list of snaps that you sent with no memory of what you sent can be
terrifying. But hilarious for all your friends. Also, sometimes receiving snaps
from people and not knowing if it was sent to just you or everyone. As a person
who overthinks everything, I never know if I should respond or not.
In
my group of friends, the Snapchat frenzy began with a challenge to play
Snapchat Fight Club. Hear me out. We take send each other snaps of random
things, but you can’t talk about it with anyone. First one to crack, loses!
Doesn’t sound exciting enough? Start sending pictures of the most diabolical
things that your friends can’t keep their mouths shut about and see who can’t
last. My friends and I didn’t make it a week. Dirty things to funny things were
sent back and forth. But more than anything, I realized how artistic and
creative my friends could be with the drawing feature. It’s exciting to see how
people use Snapchat’s short time allotment to do or say things that they
normally wouldn’t do.
The
app is also good for connecting people far away from each other. Instead of
bombarding Facebook or Instagram with every day mundane happenings, you can
send your loved ones “snaps” to keep them connected with your daily life. Great
for your nesting mother or long distance significant other.
Comparing
Snapchat to other social media platforms… sending multiple chats at a time to
bombard friends with adventures of your Finn action figure, but on Facebook or
Instagram, more than 3 posts a day can get annoying. Sometimes these things
just aren’t worth archiving or documenting. The randomness and short time limit
is satisfying enough.
Sure,
Snapchat might be a commentary on the fact that we can’t commit to our crazy
images. Maybe we have a problem where 10 seconds of information isn’t fast enough.
For all those teens, snapchat gives them a gateway to send each other dirty
pictures. But at its base, snapchat as the potential to become one of those
little things in life that is just fun and adds a little randomness to your
every day routine to put a smile on your face.
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