I did it.
What is “it” you ask? I caved and made a Snapchat. I could possibly have been the last one on earth to do so.
I explicitly recall sitting in the lunchroom freshman year when my friend leaned over with her iPad and took a selfie with me.
This was nothing new, but within seconds her boyfriend sent one back and they continued this foreign mode of communication through the course of the lunch period. They were “snapping:” no words, just their faces adorned with duck lips. I didn’t get it; what was the point?
I sat down the other night and made one out of curiosity and also for journalistic purposes. It was a social experiment if you will.
At first, I was doing it all wrong. I understood the cognitive functions of the app, but I was completely over thinking everything that I was, uh, “snapping”.
I would take a selfie and immediately delete it and try again. Write an amusing caption, then decide to change the wording. I drew a funny picture on top of my face, but then decided the pen color wasn’t right.
Snapchat allows for a timer on all of your pictures, so, essentially, there’s no need to be worried about the fact that the lighting isn’t right or your triple chin isn’t on display. By taking out the judging element that social media builds in, Snapchat diverges from all other mediums.
On Instagram, a follower can “like” your post by double tapping on the photo. This way, you receive an immediate reaction and feel a sense of “hey, other people agree with me or find me funny or creative.” It’s totally satisfying. The same can be done on Twitter and Facebook.
Does this feature make it a popularity contest? Maybe. Is there a correlation between more “likes” or “retweets” one accumulates, the more friends he or she has? This may not be true in all cases, but by having a responsive element where people can give you feedback on your post, there is a need to be more critical over yourself and others.
I noticed this element is taken out of Snapchat and I realized I didn’t particularly like that. I love receiving feedback on my posts: it creates this virtual shared interest with another person, whether I know them or not.
Snapchat feels so pointless to me because I have no way of really responding to what I’m seeing.
It occurred to me that Snapchat might be targeted towards a specific type of person. Just like how Pinterest is for the Martha Stewart, DIY type and Facebook is the sorority sisters domain, Snapchat feels random and sporadic and a little less creative.
The synopsis is that I still don’t entirely see the purpose. I’ve been active on and and off and occasionally dabbled in creating a “Snap Story.” Every time I do use it, though, I feel like social media is acting against me.
The constant argument around the web is that social media distracts from live activities, causing you to live through a screen rather than in the moment. For example, I was enjoying a relaxing evening at the beach the other day when I pulled out my phone to “Snap” it.
Shame ran through me. I came down here to enjoy the beautiful weather, not blast it all over the web. I wasn’t enjoying the moment, I gravitated towards my phone instead.
So maybe the app isn’t for me, but I found the interactions with it interesting and exciting nonetheless.