by JADA MINAYA Section Editor
Oh Snapchat, an app you either do not understand or is your whole life.
Snapchat has become such a huge deal to our generation. Kids post “My Stories” of them either partying it up, going to get food, or even a selfie of them on the toilet. It’s like a more casual Instagram, and they go away 24 hours after you post them. Sounds kind of pointless if you think about it, right?
If you don’t know or understand Snapchat, let me explain this guilty pleasure app. On Snapchat, what you do is take pictures and/or videos. There is no exporting these pictures or videos from your photo album. You can either send these pictures or videos you take to people in your Snapchat friends list for up to 10 seconds (which means they cannot reopen the picture/video) or post it on something called “My Story.”
“My Story” is the selection of pictures you choose to share publicly with people you are friends with for a certain amount of seconds as well; however, people can reopen it. You can also see who views your “My Story” and who/if someone has screenshotted it.
Along with all of this are Snapchat Best Friends. Snapchat Best Friends are the top three people in order of who you Snapchat the most. You can view any of the people who are on your friend list’s Snapchat Best Friends by clicking on their name and, boy oh boy, can this cause drama!
Now that you are educated about the app, let me explain how ridiculous this can get. Sending pictures or videos to a person on your friends list for a certain amount of time, let’s face it, sounds pretty suspicious. Is it an easy way to send inappropriate pictures or say something you are too scared to say in texts? Absolutely!
If you ever observe people looking at “My Stories”, you would see that they skip through all of them, barely viewing any unless something captures their attention — which does not happen often.
So, why do we do it? If no one cares about what you are posting or what you do with every moment of your day, what’s the purpose? I even question myself sometimes.
Along with the many pointless “My Stories” are Snapchat Best Friends. Now, I’m sure you can imagine the amount of drama this can cause. A girl sees that at the top of her boyfriend’s Best Friends list is the girl she sees eyeing him day-to-day, and by the next day, they’re both single and up for grabs.
How about when a girl is talking to a guy who’s at the top of her Best Friends list and they stop talking? A girl will blow up her real best friend’s Snapchat and try to get that dude off her list! If you have Snapchat and you have never went through your friend’s Best Friends list, you are a liar! The topic of many conversations is who’s snapping who, and all of a sudden, these two are Snapchat best friends – the scandal!
Sometimes people make it a religious habit to check that-girl-they-like’s Best Friends list to see who she’s been talking to. Sometimes what sucks is that they aren’t even accurate. You could just be someone who doesn’t Snapchat anyone typically, and a guy can snap you three times and then he’s at the top of your list! I know it’s complicated, but believe me, it’s a serious issue.
I decided to ask people I have on my Snapchat friends list why they use Snapchat, and these were their responses:
Junior David Lawrence (-_-): It’s cool cause it’s like texting only better because it’s with pictures.
Junior Cvetko Zahariev: Well, I use Snapchat to take pictures of the moment that my friends can’t capture with me, so I put it out there so they can visually.
Senior Devin Degraw: I use Snapchat to keep everyone updated on the funny stuff I experience daily. Also, I use it to spit game.
Sophomore Milana Sharipova: I use it because it’s a source of communication that’s more for small talk.
Sophomore Fallon Reich: I use it because I think it’s entertaining and to keep in touch with my friends.
Senior Christine Abraham: I use it because it’s really entertaining when you’re bored, and I like keeping up with what everyone is doing.
Altogether, these students want to keep updated with other people’s lives, and it is another form of entertainment to them, just like any other social networking. I wanted to get in deeper with this and personally interview one of my good friends, Snapchat “My Story” legend and co-founder of 7K Clothing line, Seven Small, also known as King 7.
ME: Why do you use Snapchat?
7: I use Snapchat to communicate with friends all across the world. I also use it to promote my clothing line. Snapchat has good use for showing your day in 10 second intervals.
ME: Do you think people care about and watch your “My Stories”?
7: I believe some people do care, and some people don’t care! I average about 210 views per “My Story” and about six screenshots.
ME: Do you sit and actually watch other people’s “My Stories”?
7: Depending on the person, I may or may not watch their Story; some people are corny and some people are funny as hell.
ME: Have you ever sat and looked at other people’s “My Stories” and thought how pointless they are?
7: Oh yeah, I hate seeing people’s ugly family members and struggle with plates of food.
ME: Do you think, all in all, this app is a waste of time?
7: Nah, Snapchat is a dope app. Evan Spiegal [founder of Snapchat] was smart for coming up with the concept.
ME: Do you think Snapchat Best Friends causes a lot of issues?
7: Oh yeah, Snapchat Best Friends equals TROUBLE MAKERS.
Whether you find this app complete garbage or completely amazing, it has taken over our generation. Almost everyone has one, and with new things they have been adding such as Snap texting and SnapCash (people being able to send money to someone simply by typing the amount with a dollar sign in front and sending it), who knows what else they are going to come up with.
What are your thoughts on Snapchat?