Why Snapchat is Here to Stay

For the first time in history anyone with a phone can produce daily content and value for the masses through a plethora of social media platforms. This ‘fad ’isn’t going away and it affects every single industry. If anything it’s barely even begun.

If you’re a brand, trying to become your own personal brand, or just someone who is still unsure about social media, I challenge you to look a bit more into the positives of these sites and how you can utilise them better, especially Snapchat — to better yourself, your life, others and their lives.

Connection and Engagement

When I start to see over and over the same people every single day consistently watching a whole bunch of content I put out, taking screenshots of it, and sending me snaps back with messages saying it feels like they get to hang out with me when I’m not even there. Well that’s when you’ve got my attention.

It’s similar to the current rise in superstar vloggers like Casey Neistat and Alfie Deyes who’s day-to-day lives are shared with millions of people, and who’s successes are directly linked to being able to effectively communicate their perspectives of this world to others in an engaging format.

This is going to be HUGE over the next few decades and those that do this the best and resonate with people will be tomorrow’s leaders.

It’s the perfect storm for a talented creative who’s working a dead end job that makes them depressed to turn it all around and live a life thats more on their own terms.

I’ve seen so many people around me taking advantage of this social media age. There are just so many ways to use Snapchat to make money. Which leads to my next point.

It can make you rich

If you’re talented enough.

Snapchat is currently taking over seemingly every single brand on the market. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this whole social media/snapchat phase will lend itself into a much more immersive experience that will be impossible to fake as the audience will be fully immersed in the experience in a way that seems indisputably real life.

When this happens I sure as hell don’t want to look back on my life and my 20's and realise I was on the wrong side of history by dismissing social media when I was younger.

That to me is like turning down 1st round investment from Uber in 2010, or not giving Steven Spielberg the money to make Jurassic Park. Now obviously you can’t compare the quality of a camera phone to anything shot on a commercial grade camera like a RED, but you can compare the audience and their engagement level of a commercially produced film that was shot on a RED…to a Snap

It Allows you to Help Others

In the last week alone I’ve lost count how many people have sent me private messages on my Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter all saying that the content I’m putting out has inspired them to try live their life more on their own terms. All of this by doing something that I would be doing regardless of social media — creating things that I love for the love of the process itself and for other people to enjoy.

It’s a tool for everyone

I know what you’re thinking and I’m the same. It sometimes worries me to think about sharing such personal and intimate moments of my life with complete strangers and that might be the deal breaker for you.

In fact I strongly believe that for some people this is a horrible idea.

But for me, it comes down to choosing what you want to share. Curate your life.

I’ve noticed that simply snapchatting what I get up to during my days actually keeps me making those minute day-to-day decisions that always seem to be the right ones that extra 1% of the time, which over time, can change your life (and have) — and its fun, but most importantly it helps make me accountable for myself.

For example if I don’t wan’t to do something because I’m too tired or busy even though deep down I know I should, I’ll sure as hell do it if I know there are hundreds of people all invested in my day-to-day activities who regularly exchange snaps with me and allow me to fill up part of their own already busy day-to-day lives.

I respect other people’s time probably about the same amount as my own — which is a lot.

Conclusion

At the end of the day the same rules apply as with any creative endeavour. You can’t fake it. The cream will always rise to the top and like anything in life it all comes down to what you want and how much effort you want to put into it. It sounds cliche because its true.

Do whatever is fun for you, do it well, work hard and disregard the rest. And now I shamelessly plug my Snapchat and drone-filled Instagram because after that little rant i’d be crazy not to.

snaps // adamkrowitz
insta // akaerial