At age eleven I got my first cell phone for my birthday – a pink Motorola Razor, the coolest phone at the time – and an unlimited texting plan. #Winning. That night, we also dined at my favorite restaurant. However, I was too busy texting the boy in my English class to enjoy my food.
With the advent of texting, it was, and still is, extremely easy to be in constant contact with the boy from English class, but our generation never anticipated the arrival of Snapchat, one of the greatest and worst apps ever created. It lets users share images or videos that disappear after a few seconds, thus offering a degree of freedom, as it lets users share #nofilter thoughts or images without much fear (e.g., that three second snap your friend sent you of her hungover in someone else’s bed at seven AM on a Saturday morning). However, it often causes people to hide behind their screen, diminishing the importance of face-to-face communication.
While it’s one thing to have fun with the app when snapping our best girlfriends pictures of us when we don’t necessarily look our best, the app has also changed the flirting game on college campuses without a doubt. For better or worse, we overanalyze our own and other’s top friends, think twice before sending what we think is a good picture of ourselves to our crush, and then think twice again about for how many seconds it should last for. While the app is fun to use casually, lines can be often be blurred when used in the context of flirting. Below is a comprehensive guide to navigate this complex, ever increasing technical world we college gals live in:
The Snap:
There are many things that all of us collegiettes are guilty of when Snapchatting our crush, such as snapping while getting ready for a party (and looking our best!) with the intention of finding out if he’s going too. We’re also guilty of posing a question to see if he responds, such as “Dark Knight or Bridesmaids tonight?” There’s no way he’ll know how many people you sent that to, and if he responds personally then you could throw in the invite to come over, making it seem super casual and unplanned.
Ultimately, when snapchatting your crush, it’s important to remember to show him the real you. Be confident! Don’t worry whether or not the lighting is perfect. Send him a snapchat after doing something you love, perhaps after a hot yoga class or upon discovering a really great new song. Your happiness will cause your face to glow more than any fluorescent light in your dorm will. Consider inviting him to take a class with you to get to know one another at a deeper level. Snapchat can be a way to subtly introduce your crush to your hobbies and interests, which may give you two more to talk about when you do see each other face-to-face.
Snapchat Best Friends List:
Best friends on Snapchat are the people that you exchange pictures with most frequently. This Snapchat feature is perhaps the most innovative and discrete way to stalk your crush or your ex-boyfriend or crush, as you can look through his list of Snapchat BFFs without him knowing. This feature causes us to overanalyze, pry, and stalk people to an unhealthy extent, wondering what it truly means to be someone’s snap BFF. In other words, if you’re on his top list, there’s a good chance he only personally responds to your (and not all of his buds’) snaps. Additionally, if you suspect two people are, well, hooking up and they are both on each other’s Snapchat top friends, then they most likely are hooking up. The concept of public Snapchat BFF lists is a prime illustration that privacy is a thing of the past, as last Saturday night’s make out is now as public as ever.
However, the BFF list is not a deal breaker so don’t let it discourage you. It does, however, limit your privacy, but let’s be real…if you wanted your privacy then you wouldn’t be snapchatting your BFF pictures of you on the toilet, right?
The Snap Story:
The “Snap-Story” is another fundamental feature of Snapchat. A Snapchat story is a photo or video you post to your own feed, which is visible to all of your Snapchat friends for only 24 hours. After 24 hours, time is up and your story is automatically deleted from your feed. This feature is genius because it lets you see who viewed your story, so if you took a really pretty #selfie but don’t want to send it directly to your crush, you can post it to your snap-story and pray he sees it. Although you may be able to see that your crush viewed your story, you won’t be able to see his reaction. For this reason, a pretty selfie on your story doesn’t compare to seeing your crush’s eyes get really big when you confidently walk into a party downtown.
The Immediate Snap Satisfaction:
Today’s society is obsessed with instant gratification. Luckily, Snapchat recognized this and made a feature that allows us to see when a person opens a snap. This is perfect for seeing when that boy in your English class opened your snap and how long it took him to respond, if at all. Yet, this feature is also creepy, and can cause us to lose confidence. Instead of staring at your phone screen wondering when he will respond, if he will respond, or why he won’t respond, spend your time differently, because this isn’t a determining factor in a successful relationship. It’s likely he’s not ignoring you, rather spending time working on a group project.
A parting word of advice: Snapchatting can be a fun way to flirt and get to know someone, but keeping things traditional is great, too, and is often more beneficial to a budding relationship. Remember: Have fun with the app but be conscientious. Everybody likes to interact for more than ten seconds at a time J. Happy snapping, collegiettes!