Snapchat Satire

Facades | Acrylic Painting by Kirsten Doane

Teens everywhere are “heartbroken” over the new Snapchat update and the challenges they now face

by Carenna Slotkoff

McLean, Virginia - In February, the popular social media app Snapchat released an extreme update to the dismay of users. The app is used by a majority of teens to send picture or video messages back and forth to friends and post them on “stories” for peers to see in a limited amount of seconds. The drastic changes of the update, such as the new location where users can view stories, have caused anguish and backlash from teenagers across the nation.

“I was honestly shocked,” 15-year-old Carly Stewart said. “It was like, in that moment, I just felt like the world was crumbling into chaos.”

Stewart, like thousands of kids her age, has been extremely emotionally attached to her Snapchat for the past few years. Stewart said that prior to the update, she had made a habit out of posting random and unnecessarily long rants for her peers to see, regarding first-world problems that she struggles with as a straight-A student and a member of a wealthy, white family.

“It’s just not the same now,” Stewart said. “I mean, I can still post vain selfies of myself and my besties getting Cava and stuff, but now only about 115 people see it. If people can’t be jealous of what I’m doing…” She trailed off, overcome with emotions. “This is just not the kind of world I want to live in.”

While views and popularity are concerns for Stewart, other teens, like Daniel Rogers, are worried about losing important connections with peers.

“The new update is so confusing. I feel like I’m in math class,” Rogers said. “With so many changes, it’s become so hard to keep track of my streaks.” Rogers, like many teens, is extremely concerned about maintaining his streaks, the number that tells the consecutive days two people have chatted with each other.

“There have been so many close calls with the streak timer, all because it’s more difficult to navigate through the update,” Rogers added. “It’s really scary to think that 57 days could go down the drain. I would just feel like I’m letting my bros down, along with all the girls I send shirtless pics to. Without our streak, I have no excuse to flex my muscles on camera for them.”

Though Snapchat has taken note of these suffering teens and the criticism they have unleashed, the onerous update still remains, and so does the despair of the kids who no longer find joy in Snapchat the way they used to.

“Sometimes, I still can’t believe the update is real,” Stewart said. “It’s made me realize that you really take something you love for granted, until one day everything changes, and that thing you love is gone. I don’t know if I’ll be able to feel normal, or even happy again, for a long time.”