Snapchat Pros and Cons

I resisted. For so long, I resisted. And then someone told me that I needed to write an article about how businesses could use Snapchat.

My first thought: “Why do I have to write it? Surely someone else already has.” True enough, Social Media Examiner has lots of great content on how to use Snapchat for Business. So I’m off the hook!

But now that I’ve used Snapchat for about a week, I do have some thoughts on it that I want to share. Whether you’re considering Snachat for business or personal use, here are my first impressions.

Pros:

One: It’s hotter than I realized. Turns out there are millions of users and they are watching billions of snaps every day. And although the medium age trends young, there are plenty of “adults” using the app. So at forty-five, I’m certainly on the older end, but I’m not alone. (Funny, I think I said something similar to my wife about my comic book collection last week.)

Two: It’s fun. The filters and editing options are out-right silly and creative. You can warp your head, add a hat and mustache, or swap faces with a friend. You can speed up, slow down, and even reverse a video. You can add text and doodles to pics and you can overlay your location and the speed you’re going when you take the snap*.

Three: You can see who sees your snaps. This is actually my favorite thing about Snapchat. From a business perspective, this allows you to know who you are reaching with your snaps even if they don’t take the time to like, heart, share, comment or retweet. This is the first time that I’ve seen a social media app that counts the lurkers.

Four: The collected snaps are really cool. Basically, if there’s an event like a big game, Snapchat collects snaps from users who are participating in the event and builds then into a single story. Think of it like searching a hashtag on Twitter and seeing all the stuff people are posting on a single topic. I was able to get live video and pics of the KU basketball game that I missed and watch the entire thing play out in less than two minutes – from the point of view of people at the game, as well as those watching and celebrating around the country. As far as I can tell, this is pretty unique to Snapchat and may be my favorite feature.

Five: The commercial content feels less commercial than on other social media networks. The sponsored content on Twitter and Facebook always seem to be kinda “in the way” to me. Like, they’re interrupting my regular content consumption. On Snapchat, I seek out the commercial content. Short trailers and cool pics for Batman V Superman, or the hottest stuff from Buzzfeed is presented in a personalized and hip way that you don’t see anywhere else.

Six: Probably the most famous thing that Snapchat is known for... the content is temporary. Snaps disappear after 24 hours (or so they say). This gives people the ability to send content that they normally wouldn't post on other social media networks.

Cons:

One: Most of the user content is worthless dribble. Sorry, friends, but you know it’s true. If you think pics of food on Instagram or check-ins on Facebook are dull, wait until you see what your friends post on Snapchat. Lots of selfies of course, but also ten-second video clips of mundane, crap that is basically internet pollution: sitting in class, trying on a new suit, partying at the club, driving down the road* singing, etc. Unless you are seriously interested in the day-to-day stuff that your friends are doing, you may find Snapchat to be a colossal waste of time.

Two: My fifteen-year-old son may disagree with me on this next point, but I believe that the user interface is confusing. As someone who uses and knows technology, this was one of the first apps where I had to look for help on how to use it. If you’re new to Snapchat, here’s what I learned – just swipe. There aren’t a lot of buttons to click, so if you don’t know what to do, try swiping up or down or left or right, until you get to the menu or feature you’re looking for.

Three: Adding friends isn’t easy. Unlike Twitter or Facebook or even Instagram, where you can look for users by their real names, with Snapchat you either have to have someone’s contact information already on your phone, know their Snapchat user ID, or have their Snapcode (Snapchat’s own personal QR code). I guess I understand this. Because when you connect with someone on Snapchat, you can Snap to them directly. Maybe that’s why a search for Katy Perry doesn’t produce results. While she would probably like all of her fans to be able to follow her, she may not want them to be able to snap her directly.

If you’re a business, looking to use Snapchat, this is probably the biggest con. You’ll actually have to promote your user ID or Snapcode via the other social media networks to get people on Snapchat to follow you. Ugh.

Four: (This was a pro a minute ago, but stay with me.) If you’re a fan of TimeHop, you’ll probably agree that the temporary nature of the snaps is a con. I personally like that social media is like an online diary, and that I can look back through my posts and pics to relive past experiences. As a business owner, you may like that the content you create on social media stays online for future prospects and customers. With Snapchat, your content is gone in 24 hours, which means, you have to start over with new content every day. And you have to hope your followers are checking your snaps every day.

Of course, most people would say that the temporary nature of the snaps is one of the pros of this social network and what makes is different from the others. Fair point, but I don’t like it.

Five: I am not a fan of vertical video (VV). It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me. [THESE GUYS GET IT.] But I guess that I’m going to have to get over it. Since Snapchat videos are meant to be consumed on a phone, I can live with them. VV isn’t that bad until it is presented in a horizontal environment. Even Tom Bergeron, host of AFV, agrees with me! But what’s even more annoying than vertical video? A story that is composed of vertical AND horizontal videos and images. Good grief, people. Pick one orientation and stick with it.

*Six: My final con is going to sound preachy but I don’t care. One week with Snapchat and I can’t even count the number of snaps I watched of people who were DRIVING! As if texting and driving isn’t dangerous enough, now we have people driving down the road filming selfies. One of Snapchat’s features is an overlay of the speed you are going while you take the snap. I can’t imagine this does anything except encourage users to snap and drive.

At the end of the day, Snapchat is just another social media channel that does pretty much the same thing as all the other social media channels. It lets you share your life through pictures, video and text. So if you have an interesting life, people might want to follow your story or snap with you. And if you like living vicariously through others’ lives, then you might enjoy the way Snapchat presents the content a little differently than the other social media channels.

As for business use… I think that if you’re willing to put the work in every day, are very clever, and can get your customers and prospects to follow you, there’s as much potential here as there is with the other social networks.

I’d love to hear what you think of Snapchat. Are you using it for personal use? For business? Tell me about it. With only a week under my belt, I'm betting I still have a lot to learn and discover. I look forward to hearing from you.