Snapchat Streaks — IRL

Kelly Liu
Kelly Liu
Jul 20, 2017 · 2 min read

Well, it’s been over a year since I’ve posted… And boy, has it been a crazy one. Survived senior year and got into college! Just under a month until move-in day and orientation now…

Back in May I was sitting at my kitchen table, contemplating how I will have seen one of my friends every single day of the week — a phenomenon usually reserved for just my parents. That got me thinking of how it’s like having a seven-day Snapchat streak, except instead of sending photos to each other every single day, it’s actually seeing each other in person every single day.

That moment got me thinking — what are my real-life Snapchat streaks? Who do I see in person every day, and for how many days in a row have I seen them?

For my whole life, my longest streak is probably with my parents. Except for the occasional business trip and, as I got older, emergency trips back to China and summer camps, I saw my parents every single day. Friends I saw only on weekdays, unless we miraculously made time to hang out on a weekend. My sister went off to college when I was 10 and is now working in another state, and the time she actually did live at home I was too young to remember much of our interactions, so our streak isn’t long. As for the rest of my extended family, I see them only once or twice a year. There are not room for streaks.

Next month, when I go off to college, some of that will change. My parents will no longer be there when I wake up and when I go to sleep. They will be replaced with my roommate and classmates and professors. But even then, those streaks will not last that long due to breaks and vacations.

Real-life Snapchat streaks just seem like a mind-bending thought experiment/evaluation of your life. I guess it’s also an effective way to analyze your relationships and wonder how they would change if you start or stop seeing them every day.

A fascinating extension is looking at your IRL Snapchat streaks with strangers and people you don’t really know or talk to but see every day. Who are they, and what role do they play in your life?

Let’s just hope no one descends into an existential crisis from this…

)

Kelly Liu

Written by

Kelly Liu

Writer, crafter, aspiring engineer. Overthinker with a lot of feelings.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade