Almost two years ago I discovered my daughter’s current fascination with a new social media app. She no longer was using Facebook. It was now all about snapchat. She told me that it was an app where you share pictures with friends and that the pictures disappear immediately. I thought that was rather strange. Soon after, Snapchat was in the news. The news portrayed it as an app that was used primarily for sexting. Of course, as a normal paranoid parent, I confronted my daughter with this information. Of course, she quickly attempted to convince me that that wasn’t the only use for it. I also started hearing my students talking about it. From that point on, snapchat was put on the my list of useless negative apps.
I recently listened to a different perspective on this app. In Casey Neistat’s, “Snapchat Murders Facebook,” Youtube video, snapchat is presented in an entirely different light. “In the moment,” “now,” “ephemeral,” are words that are used in the video to describe the features of this app. In particular, the stories, feature. This feature allows the user to present to his/her followers a window into their lives. One difference that this feature has is the inability to “like” or comment like other apps such as facebook or Instagram. In other words, the user has the ease of mind that they won’t be judged.
Now I have a better understanding of snapchat’s strong appeal to young people. My students have taught me a lot. One thing they’ve taught me is that they have a lot to say about what they think and feel, and they want to have their voices heard. They feel as if adults only want to control them and deprive them of their freedom. Snapchat provides them an outlet to do just that in an authentic and real way.
I recently listened to a different perspective on this app. In Casey Neistat’s, “Snapchat Murders Facebook,” Youtube video, snapchat is presented in an entirely different light. “In the moment,” “now,” “ephemeral,” are words that are used in the video to describe the features of this app. In particular, the stories, feature. This feature allows the user to present to his/her followers a window into their lives. One difference that this feature has is the inability to “like” or comment like other apps such as facebook or Instagram. In other words, the user has the ease of mind that they won’t be judged.
Now I have a better understanding of snapchat’s strong appeal to young people. My students have taught me a lot. One thing they’ve taught me is that they have a lot to say about what they think and feel, and they want to have their voices heard. They feel as if adults only want to control them and deprive them of their freedom. Snapchat provides them an outlet to do just that in an authentic and real way.