Snapchat is an image-messaging application that allows users to send photos or videos with short captions that disappear a few seconds after the recipient has viewed them. Over the years the app has added more features, including allowing users to post 24-hour picture “stories” for all of their friends on the app to see, and has created a group-chatting feature to allow multiple people to exchange images at once. The app is commonly used between friends to stay in touch, similar to texting, but with pictures and videos included. Snapchat has special features that make it particularly appealing to and popular among millennials (as opposed to many older consumers of social media, who seem a bit confounded by the app and gravitate to Facebook). Users can send each other pictures, often selfies, and add a broad range of special effects to them. For example, a selfie can be enhanced with a filter that adds dog ears, a dog nose, and a long tongue. Pictures can also be captioned in a variety of colors and enlarged emojis can be arranged on top of the photos. Millennials appreciate the Bitmoji option, enabling them to make emojis in the likeness of themselves on a separate app and then add them to their Snapchats. In addition to photos, people can send each other videos with clever special effects. Still, all of the pictures and messages vanish after being read (though users can still take a screenshot of messages in that few-second window). Finally, people can create personal Snapchat stories, where all of their friends can see their pictures and videos rather than just the select few to whom the snapchats are sent. Organizations and famous figures often set up Snapchats and create stories that their followers can see without having the obligation to respond. Snapchat also features “stories” from various news outlets, sharing everything from breaking news from around the world to food and beauty tips from popular magazines and TV stations.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)ByJAMIE HALPER, KAYLA STEINBERG