Avid users of Snapchat have seen recent filters that add effects to faces and make users look like a dog or zombie, or that shrink or expand your face, and even vomit rainbows.

On Friday, Snapchat added the face-swap feature to the long list of face altering camera tricks. The addition is taking Snapchat users by storm.

Users are not only posting swaps on Snapchat, but also on other social media like Instagram and Facebook.

Sophomore Grant Nelson shared his swaps with his friends, and thinks it’s helping Snapchat gain popularity and use.

“I think it’s increasing Snapchat use as people think it’s funny, and want to share these pictures with friends easily,” Nelson said.

Junior Krista Peci thinks that it being in an app most people already have increases Snapchat use. “I think this filter might be increasing Snapchat use because it’s one convenient app,” Peci said.

To use the feature, two users put their faces in the outlines on the screen and Snapchat automatically swaps the faces, leaving the rest of their bodies and hair unaltered.
“It’s an entertaining filter to have available,” Nelson said.

Senior Jaclyn Brownstone has mixed feelings about this new filter. “I think it’s creepy, and just a little entertaining,” she said.

Snapchat is not the first app to swap faces. Apps like FaceSwap and FaceSwap Live have been allowing users to switch faces for years.

Unlike other apps that have added a feature that other dedicated apps use, Snapchat’s face-swap feature works seamlessly. The swap typically ends up smooth and users are generally satisfied with the product.

However, Snapchat’s arsenal of filters change with updates, and this one may not be around forever.

Since these other apps were made specifically to swap faces, some people prefer the dedicated apps to get a higher quality picture.

“I’d rather use the other apps,” Brownstone said. “It’s not my first time using a face swap app and the other apps are a lot better.”

Having the ability to quickly send swaps to other people is usually a bigger concern than the quality of the picture.

“I would most definitely use this over other apps,” Nelson said. “Since it is connected to my main social media, it’s easier and faster to send to my friends.”

Snapchat filters will come and go, but this one has definitely made a strong first impression on Snapchat users at New Trier.

Students think it’s easier to have it on one app. “This is not my first time using a face swapping app, but I do like it more since it’s all in an app that I already have and I don’t need to get another one for the face-swap purpose,” Peci said.