If you’ve known me for a while, you might know I have refused Snapchat for the past four years. When I was 14, I first got it to communicate with a couple of friends, which escalated to being on group chats and random people adding me.
It was honestly intimidating, and I had heard how Snapchat keeps track of things you send, post, and share with people. That alone scared me, eventually leading to deleting the app β not my account β and being blissfully okay without it.
See, my logic was that if I REALLY know you, you can just have my number. What’s the big deal? If something’s up, text me. You’re not annoying, and that’s what phone numbers are for. Snapping pictures of yourself to others was just…not my form of communication.
I didn’t always look good enough, and I also felt the pressure to keep up snap streaks. I remember I had a 70-day streak one of my friends let die, and right after that happened felt free enough to get rid of it. Easy peasy.
Since then, I don’t think anyone knows the number of requests I have had to “get snap back.” My answer was always some form of “no” but varied on who I was talking to: “Nah I’m too old to get that back,” “That’s like…middle schoolers’ level of communication,” “I don’t like the pressure of all these guys adding me,” or “I’m too busy to keep up with streaks and stuff; it’s a waste of time.” All of these were true, valid reasons I would give, and I still believe them, too.
The reason I reinstalled Snapchat was that in college, I wasn’t as opposed to it anymore. I understood the risks involved and have most of my settings on private. I DID have some friends that were too distant to text regularly, but they had snap and it was a form of keeping in touch…finally, one club I really enjoy being a part of at St. Bonaventure had a group chat on Snap, and I folded. Of course, I still remembered my old username and password.
I snapped my old-time friends back after years, cleaned up some friends I wasn’t in touch with anymore, turned off notifications, and here I am. I still don’t use it much. It’s definitely not my way of communicating. I hate how it notifies someone of EVERYTHING you do in chats.
Please, whatever you think after reading this, don’t think I succumbed under pressure (maybe a little). Now that I have it back, it is almost solely for people I know personally, and I like it this way. I like my close circle. And, who knows? Maybe by the end of all this, I’ll get rid of it again β for good. We ARE growing up.