A Ridiculous Concept
Why More Snapchat is not the solution
(This post is adapted from a post I made on my personal Instagram)
Introduction
This screenshot is a tagline I saw for a Snapchat ad. It's specifically from the website moresnapchat.com. In the ad, it pointed out all the things people criticize social media for: clickbait, like counting, curated content, misinformation feeding, etc. According to the ad, Snapchat has none of these problems! They're the solution to all our modern woes caused by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Really?
Technically, this idea isn't false. However, Snapchat isn't innocent. Even though it's unique from the other socials, everyone knows the Snapchat stereotype: a kind of wild child in the social media family (See this video from Trey Kennedy).
Due to how quickly and "permanently" Snaps disappear, many users descend into irresponsible posting, sharing photos and messages that they wouldn't share in a million years if they didn't think it was going to fly into the void after 24 hours.
Additionally, the streak feature encourages addicted behavior. A lot of dopamine gets invested in a streak count, and it feels like you lost your lottery ticket on a gamble when that streak breaks.
My hypothesis is that Snapchat is losing money to the reputation it has for irresponsible posting and dopamine addiction. To combat this, marketing is trying to set Snapchat up as the alternative to evil social media.
The Real Solution
So what is the solution, if not Snapchat? The first one that comes to mind is going off the grid. Lots of happy people live in the woods, oblivious to the World Wide Web-verse.
On the other hand, God has given Christians tools to reclaim our rightful dominion over everything, including social media. By fighting the algorithm, posting quality content, and using the gospel to overturn how platforms like Instagram work, we can heal all the problems that social has caused.
TL;DR
Snapchat may have a new marketing scheme to rebrand as the alternative to social media. Unfortunately, they haven't fixed all the problems they have as the proverbial internet party kid. The true alternative is either abandoning both social media and Snapchat for real life or essentially swimming against the current by the Holy Spirit.
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