Its 2018 and Snapchat is influencing the world in ways we could have only imagined back in 2011 when it first launched. People dressing up as the Snapchat logo for Halloween was just the beginning because now words like “Bitmoji” and “SnapMap” are way more familiar than they should be. Here’s what’s changed in the past seven years, and what we may like or dislike about it:
1. Best Friend List
If you don’t remember this Snapchat feature, can you even call yourself a Snapchat user? Probably not. If we could have any feature back, it would definitely this one. Although Snapchat hasn’t exactly removed the list and we can still see who our best friends on Snapchat are, no one else on your Snapchat can. On the other hand, this feature was a bit played out so after three years, I think we’re finally getting over it.
2. Bitmojis
Although there isn’t much to it, and it doesn’t really have an effect on our usage of the app, it’s always a plus to get cool, new features like these, especially when you can dress them up and see where they are on the world map, and use them as stickers that represent different emotions and actions.
3. Geofilters, Filters, and Stickers
These features have literally changed the Snapchat game. Before, we had bleak selfies with even bleaker text, now we have filters which people are a little too crazy over. And even Instagram feeds are flooding with the dog filter and heart filter selfies, and the geofilters are an amazing addition to those pictures along with the stickers with and without your bitmoji.
4. Friend Emojis and Streaks
If you haven’t yet had a 200 day streak broken, you don’t know what a true heartbreak is. Friend emojis on the other hand are great, and kind of like the new best friend list substitute (a little annoying to figure out) but it’s nice to know who’s talking to the same people you are, and whose best friend list you’re on top of.
5. Snapmap
The Snapchat map or Snapmap is a bit of an odd feature and actually scary for people concerned with their privacy. But it’s not all that bad, because we do get to completely turn off everyone from viewing our location, or restrict who can view it, even while we view theirs (if they allow it). This is bit helpful, and actually nice to have if you want to know who’s where and with whom.
6. Stories on Discover
Although initially I loathed this feature, the Discover option is now my favorite past time and is also actually great source of news as well as fun facts. Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, Mashable, People, Brother, CNN, Daily Mail, National Geographic, and The New York Times are only some – and very few – of what you have access to. These aren’t your typical new stories, so don’t cancel your newspaper subscription just yet, but these stories do often give you a sense of what’s going around in the world, give you LOTS of celebrity gossip, and even provides you with quizzes, a poll on varying topics, and lots more and I’ve recently grown to love this feature.
In entirety, Snapchat has evolved a lot and it’s mostly been positives with a few frustrating layout changes. But this just one of the things we’ll have to deal with, especially considering that despite the coming up of several new social media apps, this has stuck, and the likelihood of its popularity diminishing is highly unlikely.
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