Snapchat for Dummies | Maxine Mah
Snapchat for Dummies
Maxine Mah
We all hate being left on opened right? You go on your texts and see those infamous two check marks that notify the worst of the worst: the person you texted has read and not replied! How dare they not reply! Well, on the app Snapchat it’s a legitimate crime. Snapchat, a messaging app lets users see almost every action done by whoever they’re messaging. From notifications about screenshots to saving messages, Snapchat exposes everyone on everything, and especially being left on opened. So for all those people out there who are thinking about getting a Snapchat or who are new to it, here is a small guide about the proper etiquette
Snapchat for Dummies:
Leaving someone on opened: It’s the biggest disgrace and, honestly, rude. I cannot stress this enough: always respond. Even if it’s just a picture of the ceiling or an ugly selfie, it will always be better than having that open triangle under your name.
Posting: Don’t post everything you see on your story, especially concerts. It’s the biggest pain to have to skip through ten videos of a random concert that no one cares about. One video is fine but displaying everything you see on your public story is just annoying. Please do not pretend your eyes are your story.
Private stories: You can have multiple or you can have none, but it’s a good way to get all your close friends together all at one time. Having a mental breakdown? Post about it on your “priv” (as the kids like to say) and now all your friends can help you build a bridge and get over it! Have a questionable outfit? Post it and get everyone’s judgement!
Screenshots: Snapchat will notify the other person immediately that you have tried to take a sneaky picture of messages, stories or even profiles. The worst mistake anyone can make is taking a screenshot of a juicy message and having “_______ has taken a screenshot of chat” show up. It’ll be awkward for everyone, so better have an excuse prepared if you’re ambitious enough to take the risk.
Bitmoji: Bitmoji is an app where you can make a caricature of yourself and send funny memes and pictures of your character to other people. Your snap and Bitmoji link up so when you add or text people they’ll see your bitmoji. It’s equivalent to not having a profile picture on Instagram: who knows what kind of creep you can be without a Bitmoji.
Adding people: There are multiple ways to add someone on snap. You can look up the username, you can add them from contacts, you can add them based on a tag (or a mention), or you can add them from your quick add. Quick add is a culmination of mutual friends. If your best friend always snaps someone you don’t know, that person may end up on your quick add. And when adding someone, Snapchat will notify that person from which method you added them from. Now, if someone you don’t know added you from searching the username it’s a huge red flag. It’s creepy that they know your username and have specifically set out to add you on snap. Beware and be careful of adding people you don’t know on snap- and yes, the Bitmoji can lie.
Snap scores: snap scores are the total amount of pictures and chats you have sent and received. If you’ve had snap for a short amount of time and your snap score is high, that either means you’re popular or just text one person a lot. Anyway, there’s some stigma against people who have over a million as their snap score. Since having over a million is very hard to get, some people may think that you’re “fake” in snapchatting everyone. For girls, some may think you are always flirting with random guys from quick add. For guys – who knows how many “side chicks” you have. However, having over a million snap score isn’t the worst thing in the world, you might just be popular.
So there you have it: a guide to Snapchat. Use these tips with a grain of salt and soon you’ll be a Snapchat pro. Just remember: leaving people on opened is a sin and be careful with who you add. Other than that, happy snapping!