Now you see it…now you don’t! Snapchat and other things that vanish
Reading Time: 2 minutes“Where have you been?” I was just asked.
I’m thrilled that some of you have actually been missing my posts over the past few days. My last one was my Listicle — a summary of the first quarter and my goals for the second quarter. And then…poof…I was gone. I’m normally pretty prolific on social media, but I’ve been dealing with some personal things and a few major client projects so my mental file cabinets were full. But now I’m back.
Which brings me to Snapchat, which has been around and on my phone for about four years. (See below for the history of the app.) Unlike other social media, it was designed to be shared but then to vanish. Like fleeting memories, Snaps get processed by your eyes and brain and then they go away. Snapchat has about 100 million active users and about 400 million snaps are taken every day. It was the fastest growing social media platform of 2014, according to this presentation.
Having been a Boomer using social media since it fell into the hands of adults, I notice a progression. First, younger people fall in love with a new app and start using it. Then, big brands (see below) find clever ways to use it. Then, small businesses catch on. And, by then, the teens and millennials have moved on to other media. They are just starting to flee Snapchat.
Snapchat is a very “conversational” and personal medium. One can share moments (stills, video, sounds, moods, etc.) from their everyday lives. But if you care about a brand, you can also “talk” to it and get news about product launches, deals, etc.
The “disappearing act” element of Snapchat can be viewed a couple of ways. You can say that something isn’t important because it doesn’t last forever. Or, you can say that it’s even more important because you know that it will soon go away and you’d better pay attention to it while it’s living.
That said, I have no plans to delete this post. If you want to read it again, you’ll be able to find it. But, if you want to be my friend on Snapchat, just download it and add me. But then I’ll disappear, along with my Snaps.