Snapchat is a free app that allows anyone to take a picture or a quick video, text or draw a caption, and send it. The picture can be displayed for a maximum of 10 seconds, and after the 10 seconds it disappears into I don't know where, but the idea is that it's completely deleted. It has become very popular in younger generations as a way of interacting with each other and I think it is very interesting.
There are days where I can get as many as 25 "snapchats" or not even one. I find there are definitely different types of snapchat personalities as well. One of my friends ALWAYS sends a snapchat of a selfie with a caption (there is a red line under the word selfie and I believe it was just recognized as a word in the dictionary so I think this website should address that). I don't see her often, so I didn't care in the beginning. But let's get real ... I know what she looks like and I don't need a picture of her face every 3 hours of what she's doing at work. Another friend of mine always sends pictures of the children she babysits -- now I just have an unrealistic expectation of how cute and well-behaved children can be. Some people never send selfies and just send pictures of what they're currently doing, no matter how exciting or boring it can be. Regardless, it has become a very common way of communicating with each other outside of texting.
One of the most interesting things I find about Snapchat is the conversations I have with my friends about how they use it. A couple of my friends have said that if someone doesn't answer one of their snapchats, they personally feel a little embarrassed or offended and will send fewer snapchats to that person. However, in my opinion, what if I'm doing something that I don't find is worth taking a picture of? Because I'm definitely that person who doesn't answer all of the snapchats I receive. What if I'm in a situation where I can't take a picture? While I didn't ask my friends those questions I still thought it was an interesting way of thinking.
Another interesting part of Snapchat I recently came to notice is that she uses Snapchat as a way of communicating more than texting. My preferred mode of communication is in-person interaction, then maybe texting, and last of all, Snapchat. I'd rather have conversations with someone over texting, but she seems to do it in Snapchat. I understand if it's a great picture, by all means go ahead. But once all she was taking pictures of was the TV in front of her and was sending me 7-word captions (since that's about the limit). I was answering because we seemed to be having a conversation, but after I replied the second time I thought, "why can't we just text this?" It's happened quite a few times in the past week.
Anyway, I think it's an interesting thought of how Snapchat has changed the way we interact with each other. I believe it has made communication with pictures much more common and has added yet another dimension to the way we socialize with each other.
I agree, Snap Chat has become a new way of communication. I use it whenever friends have sent me a couple of snaps, in order to send a reply back. The most important question I have is, where do these snaps go when they disappear? They apparently "self destruct," but what if that actually doesn't occur? What if, they are being stored somewhere in a base, and do not erase completely. There needs to be data sent over whenever a picture is sent, so with the data, comes information. Obviously, there are billions of snaps being sent back and forth, too much information for anybody to store. However, my question is, what kind of code must you write in order for the photo to destruct? Is there even such a thing?
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