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This post was co-authored with Colette Gaeta of James Madison University.
It’s a typical Thursday night at my university. Half of the school is out partying and the other half is stationed in the library. I was one of the library people. And I felt good about my decision to stay in and do my assignment, until I started to look through my Snapchat feed. Seeing videos and pictures of friends having fun at a party together, I instantly regretted my choice of doing homework over socializing. Then next morning, I grudgingly asked my friend Maria about what I missed out on. “Um, actually the party sucked.” She replied. “Everyone left after 20 minutes.” I was shocked.
It was in that moment that I decided to delete Snapchat from my phone. It was difficult for the first few weeks, as I became aware of my compulsion to constantly scroll through Snap Stories and refresh my feed. But, on the plus side, I no longer found myself comparing how much fun I was having in my free time to how much fun others appeared to be having in theirs. I became mindful of the fact that I often looked forward to events just to document them on Snapchat. In spite of my negative feelings toward the app, I was intrigued when I found a research study that has identified some positive aspects of the app.
Snapchat was released as a phone application in September of 2011. As of November 2016, there were approximately 200,000,000 active users. What makes the app unique is that it allows users to send short videos or photos to other users directly. An additional feature of the app is “My Story,” which allows users to post short videos or pictures to their own page for 24 hours. This feature is similar to other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as users publish personal content to a page that anyone connected to their profile can see. Researchers have questioned whether the effects of such social media prompt harmful social comparisons and lead to negative mental states. Studies have shown Facebook to be associated with jealousy, and decline in measures of well-being. Additionally, research as found Instagram use to be associated with depressive symptoms.
Little research has been done specifically on Snapchat, which is surprising, considering its loud presence on college campuses. One 2015 study, done at the University of Michigan, set out to explore the relationship between Snapchat and college students. Researchers looked at variables such as mood, social support and partner closeness. The results showed that Snapchat use correlated with a positive mood more than did texting, email and Facebook. However, face-to-face interactions yielded the most positive mood. These results may explain why “snapping” has become a default method of virtual communication among the college crowd. Additionally, Snapchat users scored higher than other social media users on “closeness to partner,” but around the same as texting and calling, suggesting that Snapchat is a platform where people are in contact with those most important to them. Snapchat users, however, scored lowest on social supportiveness, suggesting that people are not likely to post emotionally heavy content on the platform. These results give users a lot to think about, but one issue with the research is that it fails to acknowledge the My Story feature of the app.
According to an article by The Verge, by the summer of 2014, photo and video Snaps posted on the My Story feature had surpassed privately sent snaps, with over one billion viewed per day, a score that had doubled in the short span of two months. Views on a Snap Story can be comparable to “likes” on an Instagram or Facebook post; a public acknowledgement that you have clicked on a person’s content and viewed it. My Story runs the risk of adopting the negative qualities of platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where people only share the highlights of their experiences for friends to see.
The research puts users in a difficult position. Despite the fact that Snapchat may be associated with higher moods than other forms of electronic communication, it can also run the risks associated with similar social media platforms, encouraging social comparisons and resulting in potential depression, jealousy and decline in well being. My advice to you based off of the research is: if you're going to use social media, consider Snapchat, but be mindful when scrolling through My Story.
