405 Days of My Life
For some inexplicable reason, I am delighted to share that I have maintained a streak for 405 days. Isn’t it bizarre that I have sent a photo of myself to the same person, every single day, for 405 days? Not only that, but I feel accomplished for doing so. If I were to lose that streak, I would be devastated. Truly. It has become my morning routine and an end to my night. I hold 8 other streaks, ranging from 50–250 days. The concept has become conventional in today’s world — I haven’t even mentioned that I am talking about Snapchat streaks, but I can fairly assume that every one of you knew exactly what I was talking about.
I choose to discuss Snapchat as my source of media because I use it the most, as do my friends. The app is ephemeral which is interestingly a relief…sometimes, the idea that Instagram posts are up for good unless you decide to manually delete them is often unsettling. Snapchat instills the idea that the post will make its way through 24 hours of fame and then consequently disappear. It’s satisfying, although I can’t quite explain why.
Moreover, Snapchat is more personal than the rest of my social media sources. I would say that those who follow my snapchat have a rather direct relationship with me whereas my followers on Instagram or Twitter range from close friends, acquaintances, to absolute strangers. I normally don’t allow strangers to follow my accounts, nonetheless, you get the idea. Those apps have different connotations towards them; Snapchat, however, is a place where I can freely post my daily activities without the pressure of finding an appropriate filter, coming up with a catchy caption, adding the location, or tagging friends. I don’t post on Snapchat to expand my feed or promote myself (i.e. Instagram’s holy shrine), I am posting to quickly update close friends and family. It’s “on-the-go”. It’s lighthearted. It’s daily.
Unfortunately, the only source of social media my parents obtain is Facebook. The same goes for most of my extended family, although some of my cousins have Instagrams. The distribution of updates for my parents is either through a Facebook post intended on pleasing my family members (e.g. posting a photo album from my sophomore year), or simply giving them a call. My friends, however, can see my daily nonsense on Snapchat stories or Instagram posts.
My grandparents easily have the most limited access to the digital space — my grandma, 85, and my grandpa, 90, have a few other things going on in their life that justify not maintaining social media platforms. I visit my grandparents multiple times a year to update them on my life face-to-face. Sometimes I wish that’s how it was with everybody, nonetheless, technology has its innovative perks.
Snapchat encompasses many components of digital delivery: it deals with the ways in which I represent my body and identity through personal stories, it is distributed and circulated to my friends through personal stories, those who have access to the Internet and my profile can see my posts, and levels of interaction are achieved through chats, responding to stories, and adding new friends.
Streaks, memories, and stories make up a majority of Snapchat’s digital uses. Streaks being the most notably popular component of the app act as a way to stay in constant communication with friends — and, fulfill an addictive daily activity. Fingers crossed I don’t lose 405 days worth of my life.