I downloaded Snapchat about two weeks ago as a junior in high school. A little late I know, compared to the majority of its audience that seemed to have had it since the age of twelve. Until recently, I never thought it was important or necessary, but I didn’t want to be left out of funny stories and important discussions. When I downloaded it, I thought that it would be a miracle for socializing. After all, the app was all anyone could talk about.

“She snapped me.”
“Omg did you see his story.”
“We’ve been snapping non stop.”

So, I downloaded it. For the few that don’t know, Snapchat is a mobile app that allows you to send pictures to people as a form of communicating, instead of using words as you would when texting. Some features of Snapchat include streaks, stories, chat, map, and spotlight.

Streaks create an incentive for users to continuously snap one particular person to build up a streak, as shown by a flame emoji next to their name. It’s honestly ingenious: the more you snap, the more traction the app gets, and the more it profits.

Stories show snippets of people’s lives as pictures or videos that they share with a group of people rather than a select person.

Chat is essentially the same as texting, and the map allows you to track people who have their location turned on (the fact that this is even a part of the app is weird to me), and spotlight is videos—similar to the app TikTok.

One of the most important and unique features of Snapchat is the privacy that the app seems to provide. Snaps and chats get deleted twenty-four hours after they post, and if a user chooses to screenshot another user’s Snap, the other user gets a notification. This seems to be what users cherish the most about the app, but I truly don’t find this feature valuable at all. I have nothing to post or say that needs to be deleted shortly after it is posted. Additionally, the privacy feature makes users act with more freedom to make inappropriate or derogatory posts, specifically in younger users who have not fully grasped the importance of digital footprint: even with the 24-hour feature, this could pose a major threat.

My experience on Snapchat for the short time I have had it is underwhelming and leads me to the conclusion that the app is completely overrated. The lack of valuable communication doesn’t provide a satisfactory relationship and the other features are mimicking TikTok and iMessage, both of which are much more user-friendly than Snapchat. And the map feature—is this Life360?

I have heard of friends “communicating” with others through Snapchat for weeks at a time without saying a single word. Both people on the outside of their phones couldn’t be more frustrated.

As a whole, Snapchat is overrated and doesn’t deserve the hype it gets. I wouldn’t be surprised if it falls off the face of the Earth one day and its teenage users look back on their actions on that app and squirm from embarrassment.