Like many out there, I was a Snapchat enthusiast. I loved taking weird, goofy pictures of myself and my fun life, and sending them to friends all over the place. It was a blast. Hell, I "snapchatted" before there was Snapchat - the only difference now is that there is an app for sending weird pictures and the receiver doesn't have the luxury of them being saved indefinitely in their phone (unless they're screenshotted, of course). I downloaded the app before most people knew about it for the sake of using it to communicate with a friend who lived in another state, and have been able to watch its interesting come of age as it has intertwined and connected itself as part of our society's daily routine. When I say daily routine, it's no joke. People wake up and check Snapchat, check it before they go to bed, and interrupt conversations with people in the case of someone "snapping" them. People spend what amounts to hours upon hours watching peoples "snap stories" and endless time mulling over what to put on display for their respective stories.
Snapchat has really become a huge part of our demographic's culture. If you want to say hi to someone or show them something, you take a picture and send it to them via Snapchat - shorthand speak: you snap them. Most times you aren't even able to fit an entire sentence on a Snapchat picture so it leaves little room for conversation and leaves all emphasis on visuality. What's the craziest part is that people will say and do things just for the sake of something kinda funny or cool to put on their snapstories. Not only that, but people get irritated at others when they have received their snap but haven't responded. Then there is so much meaning associated to that lack of response, even to the point of questioning relationships and friendships, all over a photo sharing application.
During spring break, I had the pleasure of spending the week with my aunt at a place called Miraval, a mind body spirit wellness and spa resort nestled against the stunning Santa Catalina Mountains in northern Tucson, Arizona. Miraval is dedicated to helping people live a life in balance, and especially, in the moment. They are so dedicated to this they have a strict cell phone policy and guests are not really allowed to use their phones and technology in public places on the resort grounds. Though you think this would be simple enough, I found it extremely challenging towards the beginning of our trip. The grounds were so beautiful and I was doing and learning so many incredible things, I constantly wanted to document it and share it with my friends, which included posting pictures and videos via Snapchat. It became clear soon enough that my constant documentation of my spring break adventure defeated the whole purpose of me being there. I was busy on social media while I was on vacation at a place that was dedicated to being present. The whole point of experience is to experience it. If I continued on with my incessant media sharing, I would wind up with a lot of pictures and not very many authentic memories that I truly experienced. So, I deleted my Snapchat and began leaving my phone in my room each day for the remainder of my stay there, and it changed my week immensely. I was surprised at how much more peace I felt and how much more engaged I was in conversations and activities.
Snapchat, though fun and seemingly innocent, robs us of our ability to be present and connected to the world in front of us. People spend way too much time trying to perfect a certain picture or get the right 10 second video or attempting to be a type of way that they think will be the funniest or gain the most attention. What Snapchat has become is a competition. Rather than just a fun way to send silly pictures to friends, it has become a competition to see who is having the most "fun" or who doing the "coolest" things. Not only has it cultivated an underlying comparative nature in our multimedia sharing, but it has also breeds the rampant spread of FOMO, fear of missing out. Nobody wants to be left out or feel like they're not included, and so people get their feelings hurt because what everyone else is doing is always being put on display at their fingertips.
I was way too preoccupied in a social media and in other people's lives and caring about what they did or what they had going on, and now I spend more time caring less about Snapchat and what everyone else has going on and actually invested in being present to and enjoying my own life. Unfortunately, this is not unique to just Snapchat. Social media has become a competition and way to feel anxious over what we're not doing, jealous about what others are doing, and invested elsewhere as opposed to being thankful for our own lives. Social media is great when used as it's meant to be used, which is staying connected with friends and family. However, when it begins to cause you to look outwardly and enviously at other lives and not inwardly, positively and gratefully at your own, there's a disconnect that needs looking into.
Deleting my Snapchat was an awesome decision and one that I have no regrets about. It may be tough to believe, but people don't need to know what you're doing at all times. It's nice to be able to actually enjoy my life adventures and time with people and not be concerned about broadcasting it to the world. Real memories are made with other people, not with the click of a smartphone.
