For those who fear immortalized images, Snapchat is the perfect app.
Take, for example, “selfies.” How does the person you’re communicating with via cell phone know that you raised an eyebrow at their last text or gaped at something they said? Selfies may be sent via picture message, but these can be saved and uploaded, and then you run the risk of your Facebook friends knowing that you were indeed having a “who can make the most chins” contest.
Snapchat makes it easy to send your less-than-flattering selfies for an allotted number of seconds before the picture deletes itself forever. Users can express themselves in the most unflattering of photos with no permanent evidence of their ability to creepily cross their eyes or make contorted faces that rival a gurning contest.
As someone who frequently participates in both double-chin and eye-crossing contests, Snapchat is a godsend. Although most of my pictures’ recipients have been faithful to the cardinal rule that thou shalt not upload thy friend’s ugly selfies, a few have crossed the line and shared my grotesque expressions with the world. With Snapchat, if your photo’s recipient takes a screenshot, the app lets you know.
Snapchat is also highly useful when you want to sneakily take a picture of your friend’s latest hookup in the enclave across from you in Lamont but don’t want to feel like a complete stalker by immortalizing the encounter in a permanent photo. And, yes, Snapchat initially gained reputation as the latest and safest way to sext. If the kids are going to do it anyway, then at least Snapchat provides a more repercussion-proof way to do it.
So snap away. No one will ever know.
