I avoided Snapchat for a long time. I didn’t have time for another social media platform in my over-crowded life. I still don’t. But curiosity and FOMO finally drove me to sign up. And it’s pretty awesome.
Remember when people posted random stuff on Facebook and no-one really cared? When photographs could be ugly and status updates never came with a side of politics, inspiration or selling? Remember when instagram was “instant”? Before flat-lays were a thing. Before all the beautifully curated photographs selected to match the colours of a feed. Well, all that old-fashioned randomness can be found over at Snapchat.
Viewing other people’s “stories” is a bit like a back-stage pass to every-one else’s life. The unedited version. And there are some people with pretty fabulous lives to follow. There are also people (like myself) who just post random snaps of their kids playing with filters, their coffees and the very rare night out. But those people are still awesome and you should definitely follow them (I swear).
It’s not the easiest platform to use. I’m a pretty tech savvy kind of girl but I had to google stuff to figure it out. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that. Turns out that I could have just waited for my seven year old to get home from school as he knew exactly how to use it. Even more embarrassed to admit that.
So just in case you are looking to add Snapchat to your over-crowded life and you don’t have a seven year old handy, here are some tips:
- There is no such thing as uploading a profile pic. Setting snapchat up is pretty easy. But then you get to your profile pic, and you’ll try to upload that cute photo of you with your dog where you look quite a bit younger than you actually are. And you can’t. Snapchat is pretty committed to the instant. You have to take a little snappy video of yourself right then and there. So maybe wait until you have a little lippy on (or dark glasses). Whatever floats your boat.
- You send snaps (photos or short videos) to your story or directly to your friends. When you first sign up you probably won’t have any friends, so publish your snaps to your story. To access the story feature you’ll need to go to your account > settings > filters and turn them on. You’ll also want to makes sure that everyone can view your story in the “who can” bit. Your story hangs around for 24 hours, becoming a cumulative feed of what you have been up to during the day. Unless you, or someone else, chooses to download your snaps they are then lost forever after that time. If you send your snap directly to a friend, it will self destruct a few seconds after being viewed.
- You can’t upload existing photos/videos. Well you can, but you need to use a third-party app and it’s kind of beside the point. However, when you first start using it you’ll try really hard to upload stuff. You cannot. The point is to create your content within Snapchat. And you should because there is a lot of fun stuff in Snapchat that lets you do that.
- The lenses are awesome. The best part about Snapchat is the lenses. You access those by going to take a selfie and then holding your finger on your face (the face on your screen – not your actual face). The lenses will appear on the bottom of the screen and you swipe to apply them. If that makes no sense, the nearest kid will know exactly how to use them. They also come in different levels of terrifying for toddlers. The puppy dog is a hit, anything that distorts features is a bit concerning, swapping my face with my mother’s led to a 10 minute bout of crying. Lenses change each day. This may mean that your older kid will consider checking them as soon as they get up a necessary start to the morning.
- The filters are pretty good too. You access those after you take a shot by swiping left or right.
- You can add fun stuff to your snaps. You can add stickers, text and writing to your snaps (including video). You can resize them and rotate them using your fingers once you have selected the object. You can choose different colours for the text and if you want to go back to white, slide on over to the left hand side of the screen.
- You cannot see who everyone else is following. Figuring out who to friend on Snapchat is a bit like the riddle of the sphinx because, unlike other social media, you cannot see who other people are following. You need to go outside of Snapchat to figure out who is actually on Snapchat. A quick google of best accounts to follow will give you some great celebrity, blogger and fashion feeds. I am a bit in love with Kate Hudson. Closer to home, I’ve been enjoying mrseatsworld (BoyEatsWorld), thelifeofclare (Clare), themmsisters (Merries), stylingyou (Nikki Parkinson), carly.jacobs (Smaggle) and STEELEMyStyle. The first part is the username and what you need to add to find them.
- It’s not an engagement/likes competition. The only stat you can see with regards to your friends is how many snaps they have posted. The only stat you see of your own is how many views your snaps have received. Which makes it a bit more fun and quite refreshing. The pressure is off.
Still completely confused about Snapchat? This is a summary on why it’s so popular:
Do you snapchat?
Feel free to leave your username below and/or add any great accounts to follow.
You can see random snaps of my day at minxymummy.
I’ve had it for ages but go through fits of using it, then forgetting all about it. A friend nagged me to get back into it though. I’m so old I used all the wrong lingo. I sent her a txt saying “ok, ok! I’ll add you, what’s your snapper?” Hehehe
Amy @ HandbagMafia recently posted…4 Things We Should Stop Saying
I keep seeing your cute filters on insta and Facebook. I like that you just post whatever, without a lot of thought about “prettiness”. I’m almost scared to post to instagram these days with all the perfect.
I just cannot go there lol. I figure I am leaving this one for the youngins lmao.
deb dane recently posted…A gorgeously messy life
It’s good for keeping up with the young people in your life. But yes, I can understand not needing another social media distraction.
What’s a flat lay??? I like twitter best, but more because I can seek out news and sport…it’s my go to SM. The rest is a chore and I’m kind of over.
Lydia C. Lee recently posted…First of the Month Fiction – June
I felt that way too — but snapchat is a bit less of a chore I find. Might just be novel 🙂 Flatlays are popular on instagram where people display a number of objects together in a visually pleasing tableau.
Ok, I’m saving this one for later Robyna, as I have been a bit intrigued as to a. What the hell it even is (I’m old) and b. How it works. Your post delivered on both. Thank you 🙂 Still not sure, like you, if I have time for another media platform that will take me away from reading and writing, but I feel a need to check it out for myself anyway!
If only for the fun filters and lenses, it’s worth a look!
I must admit to being a little frightened of Snapchat, 2 of my kids have it, but the whole imagine being lost after viewing does make me a little apprehensive of what kids might think appropriate to share on there. I have played with the filters on my daughters account and had kinds of fun on it though. Great review.
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Yeah, I think that might be way they brought in the download feature – just to make it really obvious that NOTHING is impermanent on the internet.
Snapchat! Hmmm ….. my curiosity and FOMO is growing about this too! Maybe I’ll have to go and have a stalk, oops, look at Snapchat but I don’t think I’m ready to start posting videos on there myself yet.
Ingrid @ Fabulous and Fun Life recently posted…Marie Claire Ageless Parcel – Winter Edit
I’d follow you 🙂
Ha ha ha! I thought Snapchat was like Tinder or some other slightly oversexed social media platform. Thanks for clearing it up. Geez I feel old and inept!
Melinda @ United States of Mama recently posted…Why hairdressers are hard to leave and worse to cheat on.
I’m pretty sure some people still use it as sexting app – but the stories addition has changed the nature of its appeal a bit.
So I’m still old and inept?? Ha ha ha! I don’t think I have the mental aptitude to deal with Snapchat 😛
Melinda @ United States of Mama recently posted…Why hairdressers are hard to leave and worse to cheat on.
I reckon you’d love it if you gave it a go. I did feel a bit old and inept using it at first 🙂
Wow, it’s like the anti-social media! No stats and no permanency.
I think that’s half the appeal.
Snapchat scares me, I’m avoiding it like the plague lol. I just don’t think my brain can handle another social media platform!
Sarah @sarahdipity recently posted…Habit, Addiction and The Challenge
That’s exactly how I felt – now I have another things stealing my time 🙂 LOL
I haven’t signed up… I’m thinking I should, but part of me can’t keep up with my other social media accounts!
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It’s a lot more fun and takes less time because of there isn’t as much emphasis on engagement – I can see why people prefer it to the other channels.
Like you, I’ve been resisting yet another social media channel. Miss 19 and friends are absolutely addicted, and yes we do all get a giggle out of some of the filters and lenses she uses, so I’m tempted. I’ll let you know if I cross to the dark side!!!
Visiting from #teamIBOT x
Do it. I’d love to see you there.
I am stoked I have one more person to follow! Thanks haha. Thing is, it is difficult to find everyone unless they kind of put it all out there that they have snapchat. I suspect a lot of people sneakily have it but don’t want to be outed – pity because I want to see it all haha.
I used to think Snapchat was for young people who wanted to sext each other (on account of the self destruct timer aspect) but I was so wrong! Which makes me sound so old just for thinking that haha.
I got a hold of it when I realised my friends were all quietly using it. Now even my 60 something year old parents have it and so do some of their friends! Hilarious.
I’m kezunprepared 🙂
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Woot woot! Me too. Have been too busy to snap much today though.
I did download the app ages ago, but have done nothing with it……my daughters use it all day everyday but this mumma is not quite ready to dive in.
It’s strangely addictive so I applaud your resolve. It’s a lot of fun.
Robyna
Thank you for demystifying Snapchat just that little bit for me. For now I will continue to keep clear I have discovered today that I am ridiculously addicted to being connected online so I don’t think I need to add anything else into the mix.
But if I do need to I will be definitely following your guide!
It’s even more addictive that the other things – so good call!
I haven’t had it for years, but recently have felt the pressure to download it again. My only concern is that if I have it, my almost teen might want it, and I have some reservations with that. I’ll have to look into it a little more.
EssentiallyJess recently posted…The Cat that Ate the Pizza #IBOT
I’d say they definitely will want to use it — it’s just a really hard app for parents to monitor. I suppose it’s education and trust but I’m happy my boys aren’t quite there yet and content to use my account.
I keep thinking I want to try it, but I hate being on video so I haven’t given in yet. I also know deep down my daughter would just steal my phone 24/7 so she can look at herself with the dog filter lol.
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That dog filter is a bit of a favourite with my two year old.
I’m there as almostposh but I’m a bit sporadic on posting although I’m obsessed with the lenses!
Beth at AlmostPosh.com recently posted…Holiday Toiletries & Hair Products
Fabulous – just added you. The lenses are definitely the best bit.
I downloaded this thingamajig last night and one word- bamboozled. Thanks for clearing things up! And I just want to flat lay all the things, so not sure if I can become a convert…. ?
I hope you enjoy using it – it’s a bit unclear at the start isn’t it?