Social media as a whole encompasses a large variety of
different sites and platforms. Facebook and Twitter are the most ubiquitous
platforms, and are commonly the first sites that come to mind when “social
media” is mentioned. But under the umbrella term of social media are many more
unique and purposeful sites that keep the wheel turning. For the purposes of
this post, I’ll be looking at Instagram and Snapchat as two alternative social
media sites that are extremely relevant in their own right.
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing app at its core. The
main utility it offers users is the ability to upload their own pictures and
video, and view uploaded content from other users they follow. In addition to
posting and viewing the content, users can “like,” write comments and “tag”
other users. Recently Instagram added an additional feature: the ability to
directly message photo and video to particular users. These simple functions
are the essence of Instagram.
Upon logging into Instagram, users are placed directly in
front of their “timeline,” which is a simple scrolling screen with the content
of each user they follow. Newer posts appear at the top of the feed, and all
posts are tagged with the users handle, a timestamp, and sometimes a caption.
The interface is very clean and user-friendly, making it easy to quickly scroll
a timeline. Five tabs at the bottom of the screen control navigation throughout
the app. The first tab from the left is the timeline tab. Next to it is the
“Explore” tab, which allows users to search for particular hashtags and users
as well as view photo and video from people they don’t follow. The Explore tab
is extremely useful for finding new, appealing content, and can be refreshed
with a simple tap of the arrow at the top right of the screen. The middle tab
is the photo tab, which is where users go to take original pictures and video
or upload content from other sources. When taking a picture or video, users are
given a wide variety of filters to choose from, allowing them to play around
with the aesthetics of their content. There are also simple editing functions
like cropping, brightness editing, and contrast alteration. The fourth tab
functions as a notifications tab, letting users know of any activity related to
their account, as well as activities of their following. Finally, the rightmost
tab brings users to their own profile page, which features their username at
the top, the number of posts, followers and following, and a grid displaying
their content. Users can post a short description or profile, but that’s about
it in terms of profile customization.
Snapchat is also a photo and video sharing app, but with a
few caveats. On Snapchat, all content is sent directly to users; there is no
timeline or profile per se.
Additionally, all photo and video on Snapchat are timed - meaning users
that receive content can only view it for the number of seconds as determined
by the sender. Thus, Snapchats that are sent out are intended to only live for
a couple of seconds. Over time users have found ways around this, primarily by
“screenshotting” pictures sent to them. Though this defeats the whole purpose
of the app, Snapchat responded my notifying anyone who’s photos have been
screenshotted. Though screenshotting Snapchats isn’t always a negative thing,
many times it leads to risqué or inappropriate content getting leaked.
Notifying users when this happens helps to discourage this behavior, although
it surely still goes on.
When opening the Snapchat app, users are immediately put in
front of the built in camera. The Snapchat camera is the only way to take a
photo or video for use in the app. Once a photo is taken, users can then
delineate how long it will appear for others, as well as edit the picture by
adding text and drawing with their paint-like tool. Aside from this main camera
screen are only three other screens. One of these screens, accessed by swiping
right on the camera, simply lists any new Snapchats a user has received as well
as past Snapchats, although the content can’t be viewed again. By swiping to
the left, users can view their friends on the app and search for contacts (via
Facebook) to add. The final screen, accessed by swiping left again, lists
friends who have added you, contacts you know that also have Snapchat, and
another search bar.
Instagram and Snapchat are similar in a lot of ways, though
they differ just enough to give users a reason to have both. The biggest
similarity, aside from both being photo and video-sharing apps, is the fact that
both are primarily mobile. Without a smartphone, you cannot sign up for either
app. Instagram allows users to browse pictures and video on the Internet, but
the utility of the website is very limited and doesn’t allow for the posting of
content. Similarly, Snapchats
can’t be posted via the Internet, and their site only has five tabs: blog,
support, jobs, privacy, and terms. Also similar is that both apps allow for the
direct messaging of content, though this is the core of Snapchat and just a
recently added Instagram feature.
The differences between the apps are mainly in the
structure. Instagram is more traditional, in that it allows for a profile, and
posts accumulate on a timeline that can be viewed at any time. Snapchat on the
other hand survives off of timed content, and completely forgoes the idea of a
user profile. Snapchat is a much more “bare bones” operation than Instagram,
Snapchat also, as of now, doesn’t have any advertisements in its app, while
Instagram recently implemented an ad program in the form of “Sponsored” posts.
All in all, Instagram and Snapchat are both much more
limited in scope when compared to Facebook and Twitter. There are many less
customization options, and users are bound to a certain array of activities.
But I don’t think the limit on possible uses hurts the apps; in fact, I think
there is a lot of value in their simplicity.
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