I’ve been on Snapchat for about 3 weeks now (for the second time) and I was about as hesitant as anyone can get. You can read all about that here. But, after almost a month of using it daily, I can say this much: Snapchat allows me to really be myself. What do I mean by that? Well, if you follow me on Twitter, Facebook and especially if we’re Facebook friends (on my private account), then you know that I make no qualms about speaking my mind. But even with being as vocal as I am, I am a devoted user of the Facebook privacy settings. While my “close friends” list gets to view the unedited version of me, the “work”, “limited”, “parents”, “student’s parents” et al lists get a much more tone down version. I’m not kidding when I tell you that I’m the queen of privacy settings.
Enter Snapchat. A social media outlet where I allow myself to be open to “everyone” (that means, you, yes you, can add me on there too) and don’t filter a thing. Thanks to its very basic function: Snap a picture or video and share it to your “my stories” and it disappears after 24 hours! Imagine being able to call it like it is and not giving a damn about what anyone thinks, because not only will it disappear after 24 hours but no one will even remember what the hell you said in the first place! It is such an on the surface, borderline shallow outlet but it totally serves its purpose. I can be happy, sad, whine, share my deepest thoughts to my dumbest moment and it’ll capture those moments just long enough for me (and my viewers) to marvel in it but not long enough to be a reminder of the cringeworthy thing I said that I wish I had never documented online.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking, “are those snaps really deleted forever or do they just sit on the server somewhere?” The truth is, I don’t know but what I do know is that I don’t really care. Since, I’m not sharing anything illegal, I don’t really care if someone 10 years from now shows me a snap of mine and says “you were judgmental and you cursed”. I can live with those accusations because we have all done it.
So, give snapchat a shot… and if you’re anything like me, it may take a second attempt at it to really understand its beauty.
Happy Snapping!
What I Think I Say 