Pro-Snapchat

By Elin Johnson

Ah, Snapchat. Some know it as a beacon of sin and promiscuity. I find it a great way to interact with friends.

Snapchat is one of the more direct social media sites available and is avidly used by many young people. Snapchat has given us some of the greatest comedic moments in private cinematic history.

An additional artistic component of snapchat is the art of the selfie. Some of my best selfies have been taken and displayed on a Snapchat story.

We all have that one friend who overuses the Snapchat story feature. Someone who thinks their life is so important every aspect has to be documented. If you don’t know someone like this, well then I have some bad news for you. It is you. But don’t let this stop you. You are the fuel under my procrastination fire.

Let’s discuss the ever controversial snapchat filters that frequent such stories described above. You have your seasonal filters, flower crowns, dog faces, autumnal glasses, and that weird one that makes your mouth and eyes super big.

Apparently they (like many other trends embraced by women, but that’s another opinion for another time) are wildly annoying.

I find that that statement is frequently made by those that know how to take a selfie without their nose looking weird.

Some of us were not born with that skill and need all the help they can get. It really is not my fault that I’m selfie-challenged. The dog nose perfectly fits my face while still covering the flatness of my nose in front-facing photos. A gift!

Snapchat, of course, has its shortcomings. Some filters whitewash selfies and do not register darker faces as easily. Snapchat also received some minor heat for its snap map feature, which allowed users to see where their friends were at any given time.

But Snapchat has its positive uses, it has been used to cover breaking news.

An example of this was the airport shooting at Ft. Lauderdale. Witnesses were able to post videos of the shooting and its aftermath directly to a public Snapchat story in real time. This takes citizen journalism to a whole new level.

The 2016 presidential elections were also widely covered in various Snapchat stories. This makes political campaigns more accessible, especially to young people.

I hear the same old complaints about Snapchat frequently. It is vain and childish. All the stories are boring. It is overused. Filters look dumb.

And to all of that, I have one word: exfoliate.

Caress your body with a rose scented sugar scrub, light a candle (not in a dorm) and love yourself. Let people live their lives and take some selfies while they do it.

Despite its flaws, I enjoy using Snapchat. It is a fun and lighthearted way to catch up with friends.

Besides, why would I be gifted with this jawline if it was not meant to be shown off.

Anti-Snapchat

By Camille Botello

It was early October when I broke my phone.

The iPhone 5s was a hand-me-down and the screen had already started to detach itself from the body, so when I dropped it while running that day in October I knew its life had come to a tragic end.

Being the poor and lazy college student that I am, I did not replace my phone right away. Actually, I was without one for 33 days.

During those 33 days I was still able to check iMessage, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. But not Snapchat­.

Honestly, Snapchat had been irritating me before the death of my 5s, but my 33-day purge from the yellow ghost solidified my (unpopular) opinion about it.

Snapchat culture sucks, and I’m going to tell you why.

The most painfully obvious indicator that Snapchat is a waste of gigabytes is that most of what people snap each other is absolute nonsense.

I don’t know about you, but receiving mass, caption-less snaps of girls with the puppy filter or from guys who think it’s aesthetically pleasing to take selfies from their laps, was never actually enjoyable.

And, if you’re anything like me, the majority of your time is spent sending ugly selfies to your best friends. Yes, this can be hilarious, but I have homework to do.

Snapchat also serves as a barrier to genuine human connection. Not having a phone for 33 days made this clear for me. Wow, I sound oppressed for my experience with such a first-world problem.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. are social media platforms in which people can form virtual relationships, but direct messages aren’t their main service.

Snapchat is different. It’s just like texting with a photo or video, but it‘s overused. People rarely send a photo or video to just one person, and a mass snap—or worse, a snap that is also on their story—demeans any ounce of authenticity in a relationship, however virtual it already is.

Besides the lack of genuine connection, taking photos of oneself constantly is arguably a little narcissistic.

If you did your hair and makeup or you’ve been working out and you want to show that off once in a while, that’s perfectly plausible. But selfie after selfie, day after day, is a bit much.

Another thing people don’t realize is that every feature of all of these platforms is strategically constructed by genius company designers.

The Snapchat streak was literally invented to get people addicted to their app. It’s the epitome of cunning brilliance.

My life has been better since I stopped using Snapchat and turned off my other social media notifications.

The more I’ve thought about my media use and online presence, the more I’ve realized how pressing it is for me to quit looking at blue light and start looking at the blue sky. But I too still have a long way to go.