Snapchat: How The App Changed My Life

In eighth grade, I was hanging out with my group of friends in class and one of the people in my group was playing with these crazy filters. All my friends had this app called “Snapchat” but I had no idea that the app even existed. By the time, I came home from school I was begging my mom to let me have the app but she refused to let me get the app on my phone. I wanted to be like everyone else, but my mom wanted me to use social media safely. As time went on, Snapchat was growing and over time, everyone had the app, excluding me. Eventually, my friend encouraged me to ask my mom one last time about getting Snapchat and she finally said yes, with one condition that my mom could follow me on Snapchat. Ever since I got that app I’ve always been on my phone because it’s so addicting! Snapchat has improved my social and educational life from
the time I downloaded the app to this day. Snapchat is a well-liked mobile app where you can send pictures and videos, but after the member sends the picture (also called a ‘snap’) it disappears after it is sent! One of the most appealing components of the ‘snap’ community is the fact that the individual can control how long the members of your Snapchat community sees your picture. The app is more than just an app that sends pictures, people can chat with friends, make new connections, and use the app as a resource. When the members of this group take a snap, they can use a filter to add expressions, type messages or draw on the photo. Once the picture is taken and ready to send, it can either be sent to friends or uploaded to your story. A story is where an individual can post the snap and have the choice to show everyone or just friends, there is also the option to customize who sees that specific snap. The story lasts 24 hours then it ends, it disappears depending on the time the snap is posted. There are so many more features that come with the app and that’s why it’s one of my favorite apps on my phone. In this discourse community, I send snaps, receive snaps, and I put snaps on my stories.
One of my favorite things about Snapchat is that the app allows me to keep in touch with my friends, keep up with the most up-to-date pop culture, is interactive, and has a relaxation factor. I enjoy the fact that there’s something called views on Snapchat. Views are how many people have seen your story. This element of competition appeals to the ambitious part of myself, which makes the community even more interesting and addicting. One thing that is agitating about Snapchat, as with many other social media outlets, is the privacy factors are often compromised. It is the best app I have on my phone, because not only is it entertaining, and connective, but it is also free. Anybody can get Snapchat if they want it but if they don’t, it is not a necessity. There are so many other social media websites and apps, but I believe that Snapchat is one of a kind. The reason I chose this discourse community is because Snapchat is a big part of my everyday life and with this discourse community, I have made new friends and learned new
things.