I kind of hate Snapchat.
Not in a pretentious “I hate all social media because it’s toxic” sort of way. Not even in the “I hate the concept of Snapchat” type of way. I simply don’t think it’s a great social media platform and we have moved past the need for such a childish app when there are so many others available.
This also could just be coming from a girl that only slightly missed the generation of kids that use Snapchat as a primary form of communication; as though sending pictures of black screens and foreheads back and forth is forming any sort of connection. That doesn’t seem like friendship to me, but maybe I’m missing something.
Another thing about Snapchat is the god-awful yellow color that seems to make it through every graphic design meeting. Hasn’t someone even once mentioned that a muted pale yellow might look a lot nicer and less like an app designed for 10-year-olds? And don’t get me started on not being able to change usernames.
The biggest part about Snapchat that frustrates me is the scores. I’m most definitely aging myself by saying this, but I don’t understand the concept of competing over who sends the most pictures or checking a score obsessively to see who a person has “snapped.”
There are some elements that I enjoy, one of which is the ability to make private stories with different people. But even that seems childish when Instagram basically has the same exact feature and (no tea, no shade) they do it better. I know everyone was up in arms about Instagram stealing the concept for Snapchat stories, but I find Instagram stories a lot easier to use.
Another main gripe I find with Snapchat is the odd connection with dating apps. Most, if not all, boys I have ever talked to on Tinder or Bumble immediately ask for your snap, and then send you a picture with half of their face in their bedroom. It’s creepy. Why not just actually text a girl and connect with her? I’m not even asking for long paragraphs, just a simple conversation that isn’t limited to a certain number of characters. The other explanation is that snapchats are easier to get rid of. But why don’t you really ask yourself what that means, if the guy you are interested in doesn’t want hard evidence of you on his phone?
Maybe I’m just growing up, and that means I don’t understand social culture in the way that I used to. But I’m 21 years old, not a fossil. Snapchat is just not a good form of social media anymore in my opinion, especially when used more frequently than text messaging.
