In class tonight, one of my classmates made a very wise comment along the lines that Snapchat can make people happy because it doesn’t leave any room for judgment.
And I totally agree.
Snapchat is awesome because, unlike Facebook or Instagram, there are no “like” or “favorite” buttons. There’s no interface to further share the content of a single Snapchat that is originally intended to be shared with only one person. After the person receiving the Snapchat views it, it merely disappears, and the sender doesn’t receive any feedback. So, for your paranoid mind, it doesn’t matter what your friend thought of that last really ugly face you pulled – it’s gone by now, and your friend has probably already forgotten about it, too.
According to an article from ABC News (read it here: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/11/snapchat-doesnt-make-any-money-why-is-it-worth-so-much/), the number of users sending messages via Snapchat nearly doubled from June – September 2013.
Another really interesting article that I read states that 70% of Snapchat users are women. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that it provides them an outlet to post pictures of themselves sans judgment – maybe women don’t feel as much pressure to conform to societal standards of beauty in a ten second Snapchat because it’s just going to be erased and not shared again.
That same article (read it here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/women-love-snapchat/#!BeXUu) illustrates that there are so many reasons why people love Snapchat beyond just the fact that it comes without judgment. It’s silly and fun and just kind of overall really awesome.
I personally stopped using it a while ago because I found it distracting, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a Snapchat-hater. Maybe I’ll give it a try again sometime. Everyone should experience that joy of sending out a silly selfie every once in a while!
Tara O'Connor 