Snapchat

»What is your name on Snapchat?« This question is still most often answered with another question: »What’s Snapchat?«. Instagram, now used by more and more people as a kind of digital business card, has been growing at an impressive rate, but one app still manages to top these numbers: Snapchat. There is still room for improvement, however, especially when it comes to actual usage. »I downloaded the app but I don’t actually know how it works« is a common utterance. So we have decided to dedicate part of this sisterMAG issue to Snapchat and give you some guidelines which will hopefully help you to finally see the appeal and fun in this new social media application.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is an app which enables you to send photos and videos. Yes, there are hundreds of other apps which do exactly the same, but Snapchat is a unique mixture of other social networks like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and the like, and actually bundles their capabilities in just one application.

The name »Snapchat« combines both »snapping« (a picture) and »chatting« (about it). At first sight the app can look a bit confusing and it might take you a while to find your way around all the features but once you’ve got the hang of it, it is highly addictive!

So what’s special about Snapchat?

The pictures and video you send toyour friends will only be shown to them for a limited number of seconds. After that the file will be erased. There are picture snaps - bits of graphic content which self-destruct after 10 seconds (depending on your chosen setting) – and video snaps (video files available for up to 30 seconds).

You can send snaps to selected friends or publish them in your story. A story posting will be kept in your feed for 24 hours for your friends to see. If you change your mind about content in your story you can always delete it manually before the 24 hours are up.

Where can I get Snapchat and how do I use it?

You can download Snapchat via the Apple Store or the Google Play Store Once you open the app your camera will be live, which causes some new users to panic. Understandably so! You don’t want to share a selfie taken accidentally and from a bad angle with the world. But fret not, nothing’s happening yet! You can’t send out anything until you have added some friends to your account. The worst thing that can happen is for your accidental snap to be published in your story from which, as mentioned above, you can always delete it manually. And nobody is seeing your story yet as you haven’t granted anyone access to what you snap.

The screen in record mode

FLASH: Can be switched on and off at the top left just as you do with your ordinary camera on the smart phone.

CAMERA: Use the camera icon on the top right to switch to front cam mode (you can even switch while filming a video snap).

GHOST: Clicking on the ghost in the center of the top of the screen will, amongst other things, show you who has added your account, who you are connected to on Snapchat and how to add new friends. When the ghost icon turns yellow it means you’ve got a new follower. The number under your Snapchat name indicates how many snaps you have sent and received; these are your Snapchat points.

Settings

Access the settings menu by clicking on the gearwheel icon. You might want to activate a feature which is not live by default: the replay function. As mentioned, snaps are only visible for a limited number of seconds and when your app is set to one second, a snap might easily disappear again before you have had a chance to really look at it. You could, of course, take a screenshot to archive a snap but keep in mind that other users are able to see who took screenshots of which snaps. So it’s well worth considering activating the replay function which allows you to play the snap one more time. On this screen you can also adjust your privacy settings (who is allowed to send you snaps), flash settings for the front camera mode and other things.

Clicking on the question mark symbol on the top left of the ghost screen will launch a video detailing how to connect to other Snapchat users when you meet them out and about: By keeping your finger pressed on the ghost icon and then scanning the code you can add the respective other user automatically.

How do I send snaps?

With your camera live, find the white rimmed grey record button on the bottom of your start screen. Simply click it to take a picture, or hold it to start recording a video.

SECONDS: Once you have taken the snap a number will appear in a small round icon on the bottom left. Select it to choose for how many seconds your picture is shown to your friends. For videos the display time will obviously match the length of the video.

SEND or SNAP your files via the arrow symbol at the bottom of the screen and select who is allowed to see it. If you - only or additionally - choose »story« all your followers will be able to see the file for 24 hours.

The app will then take you to your own story screen on which you’ll be able to see all snaps published over the past 24 hours. You can skip pictures and videos with a simple click on the screen. This works in your own, as well as your friends’ stories.

Swipe over a snap from the bottom up to see which of your friends have already seen it. Their names will be displayed on the left. While on the right you can see an »x« which when pressed will delete the snap in question. Swipe back down to return to standard view mode where you will be able to see all your Snapchat friends’ stories next to your own.

One more swipe to the left will take you back to the recording screen, another swipe to the left will open a list of snaps sent out to selected friends only.

What do the different colors and symbols in my snapchat story mean?

A red arrow indicates a photo; a purple arrow means a video has been sent. If the symbol is filled, this means that a snap has been successfully sent to the desired person. Once the filling disappears and only the frame remains it means that person has opened and seen the snap.

Sometimes you’ll see blue arrows appear in your history. These indicate messages and follow the same principle as detailed above. An overlapping double arrow shows you that a screenshot has been taken of a certain snap.

Is Snapchat social media in its truest possible sense?

Finding your way around the app can be nerve-wrecking and annoying at the beginning with all the different functionalities to get your head around. But what is it that makes Snapchat so fascinating in the end? Well, once you’ve discovered what all the different symbols mean it’s jolly good fun for starters. As opposed to many other apps, most notably Instagram, Snapchat is not about optimizing the quality of each posting as much as possible, quite the opposite actually. Snapchat makes it all real again. Videos and pictures are taken in real time and send immediately with only very few editing options available. You can only send videos and pictures taken in recording mode, i.e. you cannot select files from your gallery for upload. Three filters and the option to add texts and graphics are the extent of Snapchats editing features:

ADDING TEXT TO SNAPS: Tip your finger on a photo or video to add a text of no more than 33 characters. Once you have entered your copy click on the »T« symbol on the top right to adjust the size of the text.

ARTATTACK: Selecting the pen to the right of the »T« symbol will open a color palette. Pick your favorite and get creative using your finger as a paint brush.

FILTER: Swipe to the right to select one of three filters. Why not add greetings, the time of day and current temperature to your holiday snaps (by swiping to the left)? You can also combine the options detailed above in one snap.

The limited editing features mean that Snapchat is the first app in a long time which enables people to connect with only minimal processing time and effort. How well this work depends on the individual using Snapchat, of course. For some of us Snapchat has definitely brought an extra level of truth and reality to social media. – Also, we still have Instagram for the more polished posts of our picture perfect worlds.

Text: Yasmeen Dabu

Illustration: Ana Rey