It should come as no mystery that social media apps have taken over multiple aspects of our everyday lives. The phrase "If you didn't take a picture, did it really even happen?" has been plastered all over Twitter, Instagram, and even Facebook, giving us this false perception that we must share every single moment of our lives with the world or they don't mean a thing.The most prominent culprit amongst this controversial issue is none other then our beloved friend Snapchat.
The app was first created as a means of creating a more frivolous and seemingly "natural" interaction, unlike any the social media world had ever seen before. Because the nature of the app is to share images only for a 24-hour time period and then self-delete them, other apps such as Instagram didn't think of it as competition one bit. It seemed like a harmless pastime for people of all ages. As the app took off, it become quite the hit among younger users, mostly between the ages of 14-24. These users found it as a fun way to share their day-to-day lives, whether that be a quick selfie with the oh-so-popular dog filter or a cute snap with some friends on your way to the beach, captioned "Beachin!" These posts seem harmless but in reality, apps like Snapchat have changed the way we view ourselves and our day-to-day lives.
Since it's creation in 2011, Snapchat has gone from a innocent hub for teens to share quick pictures with friends, to a platform for many young and middle-age adults to share their opinions through ranting, posting multiple ten-second videos at a time. Catfishing, or the use of a fake identity to lure younger children into romantic relationships (DailyMail) has also become much more prevalent on social media as of late, particularly Snapchat. This is making it a bit more unsafe for younger users to be as active on the app. Many parents are worried that their youngsters will become caught in the trap of the catfishers so they are limiting their children's access to the app, ultimately cheating Snap Inc. some of their profits. A number of other users tend to use Snapchat specially for inappropriate reasons, simply to exchange sexual pictures or videos. This can be especially dangerous for younger children with social media accounts. Posting of comments such as "Snap??" or "What's your snap, hottie?" have become more prevalent across social media. I can not even tell you the amount of times I have encountered these types of comments while scrolling through my social media feeds.
Along with these specific types of users, there are people that have taken the app as an opportunity to post something about every single event that happens throughout their day. While this may be interesting to some, others find it to be a bit repetitive and distracting. Some people enjoy living in the moment of their own lives and do not care so much as to what others are doing.
The transformation of the Snapchat app is the reason that many, myself included, have decided to ditch the app altogether. I have realized that the only reason I enjoy using the app anymore is just because it's "another feed to scroll through" that uses up some of my already-limited free time. It doesn't really mean anything more than that, which is why deleting it seemed like the most appropriate option. Eventually, it is likely that apps such as Snapchat will die off and many will realize they are not everything they were originally cracked up to be. And when that day comes, what an interesting transformation our world will witness.
