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Why I love Snapchat

justinkan.com

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Re: Why I love Snapchat

#81

Post by justin »

gragas wrote: post #72
jmduke wrote: post #25

I was about to make a snarky comment disagreeing with Justin -- as one of those folks who can't deal with Snapchat, I think it's a weird encapsulation of a lot of my complaints of newer social apps. The UX feels deliberately confusing and disorienting; it promotes a culture of manufactured intimacy; I have to deal with a bunch of software developers thinking they're hip by saying 'bless up' and flooding their social…

I'm 19. Reading Justin's post and your comment makes me squirm. The formality of actually writing paragraphs to describe how you feel contrasts with Snapchat so much. But the thing is, there's nothing wrong with being formal like that. And there's nothing wrong with Snapchat and key emojis. The overwhelming impression I get from your post is either 1) you don't understand Snapchat, or 2) you understand Snapchat, but…

Being able to write coherent paragraphs is a major key. Even if you Snapchat.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#82

Post by justin »

angryasian wrote: post #77
ethagknight wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Referring to core product, 'the feed.' I've had a terrible experience with Facebook. The more i curate, the more it seems to send me cruft from people i do not know. I started using Facebook back in 2004 when they opened up to all college students, and it was cool to friend everyone I've ever met, so that legacy certainly impacts my experience on FB. With Twitter and Instagram's linear feed, I have to seasonally foll…

sorry if I'm misunderstanding, but i still don't understand how its different from going to a users profile directly on instagram or twitter, to see only what they posted.

That's not the default way most people use those services.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#83

Post by justin »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #61
soneca wrote: post #3

"The cost of content creation is extremely low, and Snapchat makes it fun to think about what aspects of what I’m doing every day might be cool for other people to see." But what is the reward of content creation? Honest question. How do a user feel their effort in posting was worthy? I never used Snapchat, so I don't get it much. Although I'm for sure not dismissive as some, I just never tried it.

I don't believe that Snapchat offers content creation. Given that nothing actually persists, is it really content? I feel that it's content as much as small talk with a coworker is content, it's more filler than anything actually substantial. Now if I was to have a discussion about some technical issue or whatever, that would be creating content, but Snapchat is hardly the ideal, or indeed a feasible platform for tha…

Exactly what people said about video of people playing video games "not being content."

Content you don't want to watch or don't understand is still content if other people want to look at it.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#84

Post by dorian-graph »

justin wrote: post #80
goldenchrome wrote: post #62

I don't know what to say. I think OP did a good job of explaining what makes Snapchat so great, but their initial confusion and the confusion from the commenters within this thread boggles me. Recently I was in a room with a well-known VC who wouldn't believe a college student who said that they enjoy using Snapchat, as if they couldn't comprehend how anyone would like it. Virtually all the comments are about how Sna…

My initial confusion came from 1) not immediately understanding how the UI worked, 2) not being that interested in learning because few of my social network were one it. Once I invested a few minutes in understanding it out I loved it. I think the same would be true for many other people who "don't get it".

It's concerning that those who don't get it then act confused about why anyone else would like it. It seems like out of 2 possible responses, the ideal should be b)

a) I don't understand it or see the appeal, then why do other people like it? b) I don't like it or see the appeal, but others do. Cool.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#85

Post by dorian-graph »

Bahamut wrote: post #34
jmduke wrote: post #25

I was about to make a snarky comment disagreeing with Justin -- as one of those folks who can't deal with Snapchat, I think it's a weird encapsulation of a lot of my complaints of newer social apps. The UX feels deliberately confusing and disorienting; it promotes a culture of manufactured intimacy; I have to deal with a bunch of software developers thinking they're hip by saying 'bless up' and flooding their social…

Wholeheartedly agree - I spent 2 weeks at a friend's place just a week ago, and my friend I was in became obsessed with recording videos purely for Snapchat every time. Instead of focusing on the moment with friends, she was more concerned with posting something on Snapchat for our circle to see. I don't want everything I do blasted on social media - I want to enjoy the moments I spend with friends. Snapchat is the o…

> Instead of focusing on the moment with friends, she was more concerned with posting something on Snapchat for our circle to see.

Isn't this common with every social media app, relatively? It's the same with cameras, writing down notes, and many other things. You need to use it wisely and have a good focus on the right time and place, and amount of time too.

I use Snapchat a fair bit friends, but almost always not when we're together. It's a low-friction and cheap way of just keeping in contact. Like when you're walking down a street, see something cool and point it out to a friend. Snapchat lets you do that when you're not actually together.

When I'm with friends and want to show something to other friends, I'll make a quick photo or video, and then let it be. Again, you'll have some friends who are on their phones too much, but that's not a Snapchat app problem, or a physical camera problem, it's a user problem.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#86

Post by Umn44 »

goldenchrome wrote: post #62

I don't know what to say. I think OP did a good job of explaining what makes Snapchat so great, but their initial confusion and the confusion from the commenters within this thread boggles me. Recently I was in a room with a well-known VC who wouldn't believe a college student who said that they enjoy using Snapchat, as if they couldn't comprehend how anyone would like it. Virtually all the comments are about how Sna…

> This kind of empathy with others will make you much more effective when you're creating for people who are not like you.

Empathy has nothing to do with it, most people who use computers are stupid or if they are smart have irrational traits. Our ancient primate brain is easily fooled.

Apple's ipod was not technically superior to competing MP3 players. Steve jobs was not a genius, he was just taking advantage of the fact that people are stupid and into fashion.

The same thing applies for most things, take the videogame industry. Anyone who knows how a computer works and is not irrational knows DRM and locked down games are bad for games, the enlightened rational minority is outnumbered by the irrational majority. So corruption, appearances, crap products and the superficial rule.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#87

Post by dorian-graph »

soneca wrote: post #3

"The cost of content creation is extremely low, and Snapchat makes it fun to think about what aspects of what I’m doing every day might be cool for other people to see." But what is the reward of content creation? Honest question. How do a user feel their effort in posting was worthy? I never used Snapchat, so I don't get it much. Although I'm for sure not dismissive as some, I just never tried it.

The reward for me is just having fun with friends. Laughing at each other's snaps, just keeping up-to-date with what we're doing, seeing things that remind you of each other, etc.

Having no # total of followers publicly available and the usual metrics encourages this too.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#88

Post by NoahTheDuke »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #61
soneca wrote: post #3

"The cost of content creation is extremely low, and Snapchat makes it fun to think about what aspects of what I’m doing every day might be cool for other people to see." But what is the reward of content creation? Honest question. How do a user feel their effort in posting was worthy? I never used Snapchat, so I don't get it much. Although I'm for sure not dismissive as some, I just never tried it.

I don't believe that Snapchat offers content creation. Given that nothing actually persists, is it really content? I feel that it's content as much as small talk with a coworker is content, it's more filler than anything actually substantial. Now if I was to have a discussion about some technical issue or whatever, that would be creating content, but Snapchat is hardly the ideal, or indeed a feasible platform for tha…

Is content only content if it lasts forever?

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#89

Post by engulfme »

parfe wrote: post #15
soneca wrote: post #3

"The cost of content creation is extremely low, and Snapchat makes it fun to think about what aspects of what I’m doing every day might be cool for other people to see." But what is the reward of content creation? Honest question. How do a user feel their effort in posting was worthy? I never used Snapchat, so I don't get it much. Although I'm for sure not dismissive as some, I just never tried it.

Maybe someone replies. Maybe they don't. It's a low effort way of saying "Hey, I find this thing is worth 10 seconds of your time." My friend sent me a snap of her niece throwing a temper tantrum. It was funny. I chuckled. It disappeared. We got lunch weeks later, and I asked if her niece ever calmed down. She laughed, we moved on. She got to share a funny moment in her life with me (and presumably other people) beca…

What I like about Snapchat is that things disappear. If someone posted a video on Instagram or Facebook every time their kid did something, not only would followers get annoyed, but it would almost diminish the entertainment value because there are countless more easily accessible on your page. What makes this one special?

You hit the nail on the head with Snapchat. You get to see something someone wanted to share. Maybe you shoot them an "lol" over text or maybe you bring it up next time you see them. It's wholly unobtrusive and each moment has equal value.

Re: Why I love Snapchat

#90

Post by NDizzle »

goldenchrome wrote: post #62

I don't know what to say. I think OP did a good job of explaining what makes Snapchat so great, but their initial confusion and the confusion from the commenters within this thread boggles me. Recently I was in a room with a well-known VC who wouldn't believe a college student who said that they enjoy using Snapchat, as if they couldn't comprehend how anyone would like it. Virtually all the comments are about how Sna…

At a base level, I'm not sure why you'd do something to have it disappear. Why would I write anything or record a short video that would self destruct?! It seems like it's for meaningless stuff. If you follow that logic far enough that means the whole thing is meaningless.
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