When Snapchat first came out, I didn’t get it.
So the picture just disappears? What’s the point?
I spent a few months watching Millenials pose with ridiculously unattractive poses – double-chinned, pig-nosed, unwashed selfies. They had found a new way to play with each other. I liked this carefree approach to sharing – it was intimate and honest [without any filters].
So, I downloaded it. When I started actively using it to consume content [They make it quite irresistible with daily posts by Vice and National Geographic], I was hooked.
On the pot, in traffic jams, in between tasks, after gym, whenever I had a few seconds, I’d be tapping my screen. Its beauty and pure evil; those mere seconds add up to 15-20 minutes of your day.
I tried to keep myself from peeking.
My hands would quiver at the back of a cab, looking out the window and watching SZR’s streetlights flit by. It was a guiltless want that turned into a guilty habit.
So, I did what any sensible person would. I un-installed it, dreaming of zen moments –of emptiness. My thoughts, elaborate paintings and words rushing in to fill the space a screen had left.
A week later, lounging on the couch one evening, I wondered how a friend’s trip was going. I picked my phone up and in under a minute, reasoned with myself:
I can check myself and limit the way I use it. I won’t reach for my phone in between things. It is the fastest way to get the news and keep up with quirky dailies of friends.
And so, I gave in and re-installed it.
A few weeks later, I was hooked. On the pot, in traffic jams, in between tasks, after gym, whenever I had a few seconds, I’m tapping my screen.