Before I scare you away, hear me out. Snapchat actually does suck. And you know it too. Deep down, you realize how much of your life is wasted on one-to-10-second pictures that chronicle meaningless events in people's lives. My friend recently deleted her Snapchat, and it inspired me to look deeper into it. What I saw was the horrible reality that Snapchat is actually an extremely annoying form of social media.
1. You focus your life through a camera lens.
I went to New York this summer to spend time with family, and along the way I was able to see the Big Apple. But did I really see it? Sure, I was there, but I was too busy trying to take the perfect picture so all my friends that probably could care less could see it on my story. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but when I look back I wish I would've stood there and took in the city's beauty. The tourists with their maps, pointing at the tall skyscrapers and looking around, salesmen trying to reel you into their shops on every corner, the annoyed taxi drivers honking loudly in their bright yellow cars. I feel as though it's all a blur. And for what, a 10-second panoramic video for the handful of friends that will actually watch it for 24 hours? Please. What a waste of time.
2. A Snapchat is now "flirting?"
"OMG, he Snapchatted me! I can't open it for five minutes cause he didn't open mine for seven. He looked at my story! That means he likes me. He's thinking of me! Maybe I should post another picture on the story, you know, to see if he watches it? It's been six minutes! I'll open it now! AHH!" What happened to texting a girl, or, oh my gosh, talking to her in person? Grow a pair and talk to her. And ladies, why are we settling for a Snapchat? (Can't say I'm not guilty of this though.)
3. It can be used as a form of cyberbullying.
Hear me out on this one. Obviously, whatever you say online is supposedly out there forever and you can never take it back, but with Snapchat there are ways to be mean to others and have it go away in seconds. People can also screenshot (take pictures of) what you send, so if you are one of those people that are sending nudes, watch out. You never know what can happen on the other end after they screenshot it.
4. It's another form of social media to be attached to.
I recently spoke with my friend about Snapchat, and why she deleted it. She said it was just another form of social media sucking her in to staying on her phone instead of spending time actually communicating with people. Sure, it's super cool to see what Joe Shmo is doing today, but sometimes it gets annoying to see the stupid details of people's lives that don't actually matter. I am guilty of posting the concert snaps, filled with blurry music and screaming young girls, and when I look back after I think, "Wow. You literally can't hear anything. What was the point of me posting this again?"
5. It was actually created as a safe way to "sext."
Snapchat = nudies. Back in 2013, there was controversy over the fact of Snapchat being created so there is a safe way to send nudes, considering the fact that they "disappear" after the allotted time. The creators announced publicly way back when that this is not true, and that they were going to create software to detect nudity and ban the people sending those pictures from Snapchat. The harder I think about it, the more that really doesn't make sense. Please tell me how are you going to detect nudity without people seeing it in some way?
I'll tell you right now that I Snapchat everyday and post a story every other day, so I am completely guilty of being a "Snaddict," but I'm challenging myself to stay off Snapchat for a whole week. Sounds easy, but as I type this I'm already struggling not to check what my friend just sent me. But for now, who knows, maybe I'll even stop using Instagram! (JK, follow me). I challenge you to go without Snapchat for a week, and comment below to see how you do! Is it really that important?
