Pros And Cons Of Snapchat
In a world with constant, rapidly evolving technology, it’s often hard to decide whether a new invention will ultimately serve to help or hinder the human experience. Case in point, the ever popular app “Snapchat”. At first glance, Snapchat seems to be a fairly simple, innocuous photo-sharing platform; the user can send picture which will be deleted upon opening. Not only simple but revolutionary. When, in the past, could someone send a snapshot of exactly what they are doing to someone on the other side of the world, with such ease? Though upon further inspection, it becomes clear this seemingly harmless app can alter the way our society functions. I believe Snapchat proved to be the most distracting and disadvantageous mobile technology of 2014.
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“Big Brother is Watching” was popularized in George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four; while published in 1949, the novel’s themes are worryingly applicable today.
The characters’ in Nineteen-Eighty-Four have no real privacy in their futuristic society. There is a two-way telescreen in everyone’s home, which is viewed by the omnipresent “Big Brother”. While studying this novel in my twelfth-grade literature class, my teacher advised us, “Today, it isn’t a Big Brother we have to worry about, it’s all of the Little Brothers”. I am reminded of this quote anytime I spend extended periods of time in public. Without fail, people are always taking pictures of their day. Whether it’s an aesthetically pleasing meal they’ve been served, a picture of themselves, or an undisclosed photo of an attractive stranger, Snapchat is open and ready to permanently document everyone’s
everything. Photos and videos “going viral” is a common theme in our world today. One of the most notable, recent, viral craze was a photo of a young employee from Target. A stranger uploaded a candid shot of the sixteen year old and within 24 hours, Alex become internet famous. The photo circulated around the web and soon Alex was not only receiving copious amounts of recognition and praise, but also dozens of death threats. It’s astonishing that something as simple as a picture of an attractive teen can be spread with such haste. Snapchat only simplifies the already thriving constant surveillance of our time. According to Business Insider, it is estimated that Snapchat has nearly 200 million users. That is 200 million people with the ability to capture and share anything they see with a very large amount of people in a very short amount of time. Although perhaps obvious, this is a frightening statistic to contemplate. These 200 million users send an average of 400 million snaps a day. How many of these snaps are of you? How many of these snaps of you are taken without your knowledge?
When it comes to privacy, the discussion is typically around the concern of the government’s invasion of our own. Never do we look to each other as the source of our ever decreasing sense of privacy. It’s time to turn to our brother and put down the phones. Next time you find yourself snapchatting or sending a picture, think twice about your actions. Are you the Little Brother you’re worried about?
“Big Brother is Watching” was popularized in George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four; while published in 1949, the novel’s themes are worryingly applicable today.
The characters’ in Nineteen-Eighty-Four have no real privacy in their futuristic society. There is a two-way telescreen in everyone’s home, which is viewed by the omnipresent “Big Brother”. While studying this novel in my twelfth-grade literature class, my teacher advised us, “Today, it isn’t a Big Brother we have to worry about, it’s all of the Little Brothers”. I am reminded of this quote anytime I spend extended periods of time in public. Without fail, people are always taking pictures of their day. Whether it’s an aesthetically pleasing meal they’ve been served, a picture of themselves, or an undisclosed photo of an attractive stranger, Snapchat is open and ready to permanently document everyone’s
everything. Photos and videos “going viral” is a common theme in our world today. One of the most notable, recent, viral craze was a photo of a young employee from Target. A stranger uploaded a candid shot of the sixteen year old and within 24 hours, Alex become internet famous. The photo circulated around the web and soon Alex was not only receiving copious amounts of recognition and praise, but also dozens of death threats. It’s astonishing that something as simple as a picture of an attractive teen can be spread with such haste. Snapchat only simplifies the already thriving constant surveillance of our time. According to Business Insider, it is estimated that Snapchat has nearly 200 million users. That is 200 million people with the ability to capture and share anything they see with a very large amount of people in a very short amount of time. Although perhaps obvious, this is a frightening statistic to contemplate. These 200 million users send an average of 400 million snaps a day. How many of these snaps are of you? How many of these snaps of you are taken without your knowledge?
When it comes to privacy, the discussion is typically around the concern of the government’s invasion of our own. Never do we look to each other as the source of our ever decreasing sense of privacy. It’s time to turn to our brother and put down the phones. Next time you find yourself snapchatting or sending a picture, think twice about your actions. Are you the Little Brother you’re worried about?