Every time I take a Snapchat with a normal (not ugly face) people look at me strangely. “Why are you smiling in your Snapchat?” people scoff at me. What my friends don’t understand is that I actually am Snapchating someone who would not appreciate my strangest, most contorted face, and that person is my mother.
I would be lying to you if I were to say that I was always on-board with my mom’s social networking escapades. I originally abhorred the fact that she had a Facebook. When she would tag me in pictures I would immediately rush to untag them, for fear that people would perceive me strangely for being friends with her.
Like many things that seem like a social disaster in the ninth grade, I eventually outgrew this mental block and have now come to enjoy having my mother on Facebook. From time to time, I actually find myself sifting through her old albums and reliving the nice family memories.
Despite my change of heart, I was still rather hesitant to help my mother download Snapchat. She would see the Snapchats I got from my older sister and want me to make one for her, a request I would always avoid or completely ignore.
A few days before coming to school in late August, I finally gave into her pleas and made the decision I have yet to regret: I helped my mom get that little Snapchat ghost icon on her phone. I could not have made a better choice for my relationship with my mom has only grown stronger in the tough transitional months between being a high school senior and living at home to being a college freshman and living almost five hours away.
From my mother’s perspective, a few snap chats a day appease my mom’s desire to “see my face.” Skyping can sometimes be difficult to plan, so Snapchatting with my mom gives her a glimpse of my everyday life without having to commit to a forty minute Skype session. She can see the weather in Chestnut Hill, or even my outfit of the day. She feels more involved in my everyday life, and it literally takes five seconds! Just like me, she is also probably going through some tough transitory months in not having me home.
My mom isn’t the only one benefitting though because Snapchat has helped me to feel a connection to home. There are just some days that can only be improved by a “selfie” of my mom, my dad, and my little brother. If your parents are technologically capable, I would recommend you have them download Snapchat and see how it improves your communication. PS: Since I know you’re reading this, thanks Mamma for being cool enough to Snapchat me!!
Photo Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welc…
http://facebookforparents.org/
http://freepblog.wordpress.com…