Nandino 1

Daphne Nandino

Sophia Bamert

UWP 1

19 November 2017

Snapchat Discourse Community: The story behind the Story

Introduction

In a technology driven world it is not uncommon to see the budding of all variations of

apps and social platforms around us. However, one platform in particular blossomed into a

global phenomenon and became an everyday part of millions of peoples lives, especially

younger generations of individuals. This app is called Snapchat. Its title is practically self

explanatory of the apps function: to snap and chat with others. According to Handyside and

Ringrose, Snapchat is a photo and video messaging app with an unusual temporal structure. Its

uniqueness lies in the transience more specifically, the possible transience of the images and

videos that users share with each other, called snaps. With a lifespan stipulated by the sender of

between 1 and 10 seconds (347). Throughout our lives we will experience all sorts of moments

and regardless of what kind of moment it be, whether it be funny, touching, upsetting, or

absolutely unforgettable, this app enables individuals to share these moments with others,

creating a community revolved around this frequent exchange of images or videos. Individuals

may share these moments through individual snaps sent to one or a few people or on a story..

This is a popular and attractive feature of snapchat where through twenty four hour long
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accumulation of videos or images, ... users can see their own Story and Stories from people

they follow (Amancio 5). Typically snapchat allows users to post stories that allow all those on

their friends list to view it, however, I have noticed that this is not always the case. I performed

research on snapchat stories and soon realized most sources solely defined what a story was and

some effects it may have on users depending on the content as well as discussed some patterns of

use. None of the sources narrowed down the storys specific audience members. As a result, I

developed by argument which states that the target audience of these stories is not everyone on

the list but rather, only a small target audience of one or a few people. To solidify this claim, I

performed interviews with four friends who are users of snapchat and who post stories either

frequently or infrequently. Through these interviews I sought to find the real reason why these

stories were posted and for whom.

Stories: Developing Relationships

Snapchat, because it is known and used on the global scale, has recruited millions of

users referred to as snapchatters. According to Piwek and Joinson, The rise in Snapchat use

has been one of the most rapid and unprecedented in the history of instant messaging services

and social networking sites (358). Users of this app have access to different forms of

communication via individual snaps, video chat, direct text message chat, or stories. Out of all

these methods, posting stories is the most communal due to the fact that all followers are able

to see these accumulations of videos or pictures unless blocked from doing so. . These

snapchatters post different kinds of stories with regard to their type of personality and personal

likings. The story According to Handyside and Ringrose, the Story evokes both narrative
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temporal structure and individual creativity; (352). The ability to visually see what people are

doing throughout their daily lives allows the formation of relationships and develops a sense of

community among the snapchatters. These posted stories of snapchats allow others to get a

sense of what the particular user likes to do, say, and even eat. Stories have the ability to initiate

conversation and questions such as, That food looks great! Where can I get some? or Im

binge watching that show too! Which is your favorite character?. Therefore it is safe to assume

that ....snapchatting is therefore an active part of how relationships and intimacies are now

formed (Handyside and Ringrose 349). Snapchat has made such a mark on modern day

relationships and the role it plays in the development of those relationships that it is normal and

even expected for two people to exchange snapchat usernames. According to Vaterlaus et.al, ,

Snapchat has established itself as a secondary step or a next step in the relationshipfirst

building a relationship through voice or text and then progressing the relationship with Snapchat

to show what I look like. This was consistent with the general perception that Snapchat was

used to enhance existing relationships (Vaterlaus et. al. 598). Exchanging snapchat information

can also allow someone to catch a glimpse of the others everyday life and the social media

platform acts lie a window into someone's life which allows one person to effectively get to

know the other in an outside perspective.

Stories: Challenging Relationships

Snapchatters are able to grant followers an exclusive view into their lives through stories

however these stories may not always be so transparent. The user has the power to choose what

kinds of images or videos are displayed for viewers to see, which may often be solely the

highlights of ones life. Highlights may include a video of someone receiving a brand-new car or
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receiving a marriage proposal or obtaining an academic achievement. One does not usually post

about the struggles that may have occurred on the journey toward those achievements or

opportunities due to the pressure on social media to fit a certain image of effortless success.

According to Handyside and Ringrose, Perceptions of Snapchat users offline lives are also

manipulated digitally via the app; its easy to make people think youre having a much cooler

life than you are, commented one focus group participant (349) . Therefore the types of

images or videos displayed have the ability to evoke jealousy which is further accentuated

through the stories disappearing feature. They also claim that, Snapchat is deliberately used to

engender jealousy and to create so-called cool subjectivities. Although all social media offers

the opportunity to do this, Snapchat specifically encourages jealousy of scenarios continuously

re-imagined as an after-effect of a snapped but disappearing image (353). The disappearing

feature of the snapchat prompts a viewer to finish the story of a snapchat image or video, and

if that snapchat is a highlight of someones life, then the viewer may suspect that there must be a

happy ending which can further invoke jealousy.

Overall snapchat has an efficient way of developing relationships however it also has the

ability to test them, depending on the type of content a user chooses to post and their intention

behind it. However, this begs the overlying question: is the intention behind the content posted

on a story targeted at everyone on the friend list or could it be primarily targeted towards only

a few people, even though it is posted on a communal and not a one-on-one platform?
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Methods

I sought answers and interviewed four friends of mine: Jose, Alex, Thea, and Mary. I

asked them each thirteen questions that would allow me to gain a better insight on what their

experience and use of snapchat was like. The following questions are listed below:

1. How did you first hear about snapchat?

2. What prompted you to download the app?

3. Would you say your snapchat use is: rare, moderate, frequent, or very frequent?

4. How often do you post stories?

5. What kinds of stories do you post? What is the main subject in most of them? (you?

other people? Your surroundings?)

6. When you post a story, is your intended audience everyone on your list or only a few

people in particular?

7. Can you recall a time when you posted a story where you were most concerned with a

specific person viewing it?

8. Have you ever tried to hint to a particular person or group of people a message that

otherwise wouldnt have been obvious to anyone else on your story?

9. How often do you check who has seen your story after you have posted it?

10. How many names do you wait to show up on the viewed list? Do you stop checking

after you see the name you wanted to see?

11. How accurate do you feel your stories portray who you are as a person on a scale of 1-

10, 10 being very accurate and 1 being not accurate at all.

12. How has your experience using snapchat connected you with others?
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13. How would you rate you experience using snapchat on a scale of 1-10, 10 being

amazing and 1 being awful.

Results and Discussion

All interviewees said that they heard about snapchat through friends and downloaded it to be

part of the trend. For example, Mary stated: My friends all got snapchat and they were like,

Why dont you have snapchat?. According to Piwek and Joinson, Over 47% of participants

reported that they started using Snapchat because their friends were using it(361). Jose, Alex,

and Thea said their rate of use of snapchat was very frequent with only Mary stating that her

use was frequent. In terms of posting stories, their answers ranged from a couple times per

week to a every two weeks. The rate of story posting may increase if something interesting is

happening according to Alex. All interviewees said that most of their stories revolved around

their surroundings like the food they were eating, movies, dogs, and other people. However Alex

did mention that he will post a snapchat of myself every now and then if I get a haircut and

think I look cute and things along those lines. When asked about their intended audience, Thea

said, I sometimes block people from seeing my story. In addition Alex stated that, Its usually

my entire friend list but sometimes Ill post something I know certain individuals will respond to

in order to get them to talk to me. If I dont want a particular person to see a story Ill adjust my

privacy settings so they cant see that particular story. Joses response mentioned that he

allowed all people on his list to see but he only cared about a select fews opinions. All four of

interviewees were able to recall a time where they posted a story where they were only

concerned with a specific person or select group of people viewing it. They all have also

admitted to hinting to a particular person or group of people a message that otherwise would
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not have been obvious to anyone else on the list. They all stated that they check the viewed list

at least a few times before the twenty four hour limit is up. This is also seen in Handyside and

Ringroses study where a girl confesses to witnessing this similar strategy from another user:

HANNAH: I saw right ok, this is bit stupid, but I this boy was supposed to

texting this girl. Or it seemed that way anyway. And then he put a picture on Snapchat of

him and a different girl. But that different girls face was like blocked, it was like, you couldnt

see her face cos something was like in the way of it. So and then I dunno I started I

remember, I like made a point to talk to my friends about it. Cos it was like, an odd thing, and I

think people yeah like that was I think that was done like cleverly, because, you couldnt see

who the girl was but you could tell it wasnt the girl it should have been.

Here, ambiguity is both acknowledged by Hannah as a common factor in negotiations of

romantic relationships (it seemed that way), and perceived by her as a deliberate, clever

strategy taken by the boy to position himself with multiple girls (353). In this example the boy

clearly only posted the story to hint to a smaller audience the message he was trying to send, a

strategy that my friends have also admitted to doing. When asked how often they check who has

viewed their story after it has been posted Alex admitted that, I do stop checking after I see

certain people have viewed it. Its always someone that Im talking to or attracted to. Jose had a

similar response saying, I wait until a specific 6-8 people see it, then I stop checking. Though

there were times where I posted a story and waited for one person in particular to see it.

Finally, when asked how accurately they feel their stories portray them as a person, all

four friends responses ranged from 7 to 9. They all had positive responses when asked about
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their experience with the app, saying that they were able to be better connected with those living

elsewhere in addition to making more friends.

Conclusion

Due to my small sample size of interviewees I was not truly able to conclude that the primary

target audience of snapchat stories is smaller than the actual list of followers to the entire

population of snapchat users. However according to my own individual research I was able to

conclude that my thesis is valid when applied to my four friends and I was able to expose an

interesting strategy and perspective regarding the use of snapchat stories. This conclusion is

significant because it demonstrates the evolution of the user. The storys features are intended

to be viewed by a larger audience however users are utilizing the story to narrow down their

audience which can be achieved by blocking and by what content they post. Users can invoke

specific reactions from their audience through this method as well, whether it be jealousy or the

development of a friendship or romantic relationship. This study can not only add to the

discussion of relationship dynamics via snapchat but can also be expanded to other social media

platforms that have adopted the infamous story feature and consequently, we can gain further

knowledge of the storys presence and effects in the world of social media.
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Works Cited

Amancio, Marina. "Put it in your Story: Digital Storytelling in Instagram and Snapchat
Stories.", 2017, pp. 1-103. Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet,
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-324812.

Handyside, Sarah, and Jessica Ringrose. "Snapchat memory and youth digital sexual cultures:
mediated temporality, duration and affect." Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 26.3, 02 Feb 2017,
pp. 347-360. Taylor and Francis Online, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2017.1280384

Piwek, Lukasz, and Adam Joinson. "What do they snapchat about? Patterns of use in time-
limited instant messaging service." Computers in Human Behavior vol. 54, January 2016, pp.
358-367. ScienceDirect, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.026

Vaterlaus, J. Mitchell, et al. "Snapchat is more personal: An exploratory study on Snapchat

behaviors and young adult interpersonal relationships." Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 62,
18 April 2016, pp. 594-601. ScienceDirect, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.029