Snapchat: The Latest Addictive App
Story by Jawuan Tutt, Photo by Jai-King Strange.
March 17, 2015. Instead of waking up in the morning texting about what you are wearing to school or catching up on the latest gossip, teens are thinking about doing something even more exciting...SNAPCHAT! Well, what’s Snapchat? Snapchat is a photo messaging app created by three Stanford University students. Using this app allows teens to communicate through photos, texting, drawing, and sending videos to your friends on a controlled list. These sent photographs and videos are known as "Snaps". Once you are able to “snap”, you instantly become a “Snapper”! Its popularity surged following a steady rise up the social media such as Facebook, KIK, Instagram, Tumblr, Pintrest, and Twitter.
This is how it works, all you have to do is press or hold down the send button and record a video that you can edit and send to all of your friends. Most people add the highlights of their day to the section titled “My Story”. You may also view other “Snapper’s” stories.
“Soon as I wake up, I like to share my daily routines like the weather in my area, complain about how other schools are closed for snow days, and describe what I am doing right in the moment at school,” says 8th grader Jai-King Strange. “I am usually walking down the hallway or even exiting the classroom at dismissal with a classmate and simply get on Snapchat and record a video. It’s so cool!” Using Snapchat adds enjoyment to an ordinary day or even when you are bored.
The biggest difference between Snapchat and Instagram is really that Instagram users are obsessed with posting pictures and videos of themselves. Instagram has filters for images and videos. Users can change the lighting or coloring before sharing based on the desired filter.
Snapchat is more about expressing what you are doing and having fun. Snapchat lets users add personal drawings or notes to the photos and videos they send. The drawings can be created in a number of colors from the color palette in the upper right hand corner. Instagram has a 15-person limit on group messages, while Snapchat does not have a limit. However, a Snapchat image disappears after a user views it, meaning prolonged conversations are not possible within the app.
The only downside to using this app is the way teens are using self-destructing features that encourage “inappropriate” uses like sexting.
Jawuan Tutt is an 8th grade scholar at Friendship Woodridge Academy.