Earlier in the week, a report surfaced that Instagram Stories had overtaken Snapchat as the primary method of sharing images. Instagram Stories had apparently made enough of an impact that they overtook the original in Snapchat.
Seemingly on cue, Snapchat released a new feature called the Snap Map that had Twitter and other places reacting. Snapchat combines Bitmojis, the customizable avatars, with a world map. Snapchat goes the extra mile in detailing what a person is up to while they are moving in the world. There are Bitmoji expressions for when a person is sleeping, or driving, or even taking a flight. Snapchat has always been the pioneer in social media interaction via video and photos, so any step they take now will be seen as way to break into a new, untapped frontier.
As with anything major, Twitter reacted in the best possible way, with comments ranging from insightful to downright hilarious. Here are the 10 best tweets immortalized in screenshot form.
1. Suddenly, it's much more difficult to avoid someone:
2. Others rightly recognize the danger this map may bring upon people:
3. Someone has a perfect idea for the map:
4. Some see this development as an over-correction to a previous problem:
5. Instagram might have done it first, but Snapchat will make it popular:
6. The map offers confirmation for certain conspiracy theories:
7. Old excuses no longer fly:
8. Life often imitates art, and this is no exception:
9. The constant clicking on someone? Totally innocent, in most cases:
10. You'll always know where the party is at:
Social media is constantly changing the way people interact with one another. The initial push-back against the Snap Map was that people were readily identifiable down to the street they lived on. This would make it very easy for stalkers and other reprehensible types of people to make others lives unsafe.
However, Snapchat has made it very easy for people to hide themselves from public recognition, as they can either go ghost entirely from the map or let a select few friends view their whereabouts. While it may seem strange at first, Snapchat has become synonymous with an active lifestyle, therefore a map that displays where people go and where they often are makes sense to implement, as other active people will be curious to see where their friends are and what they are up to.
The Snap Map acts as a gate to the world, as stories in other cities and countries are made available for public viewing. While there may be controversy now, the tides will eventually shift and the Snap Map will become another facet of social media.


















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