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I consider myself an early-adopter. I always try to at least test out new technology, especially if it's what "the kids" are using. But with Snapchat I had a strong reaction of "this is dumb, screw this, I'm too old for this". Plus, no one I knew used it. I guess that makes me old now.



I didn't get it until literally this past Sunday. I've always had it installed on my phone, and have maybe ~10 friends on it, but I never actually sent anything. I would occasionally receive a snapchat from my friend, I would chuckle, and that was the end of it.

This Sunday my wife took my phone and just took a silly picture of ourselves during the Super Bowl and sent it to everyone on my list. Within minutes, I was getting a response from pretty much everyone, some people I haven't even talked to in months, and it was fun and made us laugh! I had the dumbest epiphany of my life. It's really just a fast, dumb way to communicate. That's it. Maybe I'll actually use it more now


This is why I like it, and I'm in my 30s.

It reminds me of Facebook back in the day, when it wasn't so serious. When it wasn't full of politics and Buzzfeed and not-so-humblebrags.

You don't have to worry (as much) about a silly photo coming back to haunt you in 10 years on Snapchat. It's much less formal feeling. The faces are my favorite; it's just a lot of fun to use.


I tried to use it, but I realized a core component was taking out my phone and snapping a pic in public. Using my phone in public makes me socially anxious (feel like I'm "part of the problem"), so I don't see a world where I can really snapchat.


Ah, social anxiety.

Nobody cares what you do in public.


I do.


It really is just another social medium.

We used to have ICQ, AIM, MSN, YIM, and a host of other lesser known methods to chat. This is just one geared toward sending quick pictures. I doubt the privacy part of it is even significant to most users.


I'm not sure why so many of us don't "get" Snapchat. Really it just corrects one of the biggest "features" of social apps: that they're essentially public-facing, permanent popularity contests.

On Snapchat, every picture and chat message self-destructs by default, so there's less social pressure to post something truly extraordinary. There's no publicly visible tracking of likes, so you're not tempted to compare your popularity with others. There is no infinite history where you can come across something old that will make you embarrassed and upset (e.g. records of bad decisions, photos with an ex).

Sending snaps back and forth is great for staying in touch with friends without having to converse about a particular topic. For acquaintances who you don't know as well, an amusing snap is a great icebreaker. And for when you DO want to have a conversation, there's both an IM and a video chat.

The Discover feature where you see content from VIPs directly competes with a significant use-case of Twitter in the target demographic. But unlike Twitter, it's more visual, more immersive, and because of its temporal nature, more exclusive.

Moreover, teens hate creeps. You know every time someone views your snap. You know when someone screenshots your snap. You know when your chat is read. You know when someone views your story. Your audience is exactly who you choose. It's not the internet at large. It's not your mom, it's not the weird guy in your school who found your profile, and it's not people way outside your age-range who are thirst-liking your selfies and making you uncomfortable.


I don't "get" Snapchat any more than I get Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. etc. These social apps (which are about as social as reality TV is reality) all are more about promotion than communication. In order to get into these apps you need to have a personality that seeks constant attention from others and external validation. The platforms are all about "broadcasting me and tracking the acknowledgement of me", which is great if you're advertising a corporate brand but kind of sad and self-absorbed if you're a person.


What you described is extroversion which by some measures is 3/4 of the population.


What I described is narcissism


Also keeping vaguely aware of what old friends and acquaintances are doing. I've had some interesting reunions purely as a result of Facebook.


From the other comments on this thread and my tiny bit of Snapchat use, I think you're wrong about Snapchat being in the "promotion [over] communication" bucket. As a largely private, ephemeral communication medium, it seems much worse for promotional purposes than other social networks.


This is a great response. I'd add that you can meet people on Snapchat without giving away too much private detail, like a phone number.

The new 2d printed avatars that allow you to easily add people you meet are perfect. Shows Snapchat really understand their audience.

Snapchat may have been bootstrapped with sexting but it is so much more than that now. They've hit on something that no other social network has - an audience of regular people who aren't selling anything, who want to retain their privacy and who want to have fun with friends and acquiantances online.

So much of the content I see on Snapchat would never be shared anywhere else - and a lot of the people sharing it are those who weren't interested in building a profile on public pages.


I was told that Snapchat was full of naked pictures of cute younger women. For some reason it seems to be filled with short videos of startup executive types about my age driving around and getting coffee. Oh well.


Old and right. It is dumb.




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