Exploring the Uses of Snapchat

We move on in this session at AoIR 2015 to Nicole Ellison, who highlights the different frames through which we might understand mobile uses; one is the affordances frame which might highlight the differences between content persistence and ephemerality, for instance. She points to Snapchat in this context, as a particularly interesting object of research.

Snapchat uses were studied here by exploring the interaction experiences of a cohort of undergraduates across different media and using Snapchat as the baseline. They were surveyed for instance on the pleasantness of their interactions (where face-to-face ranked high, email and texting low); on supportiveness (Snapchat rates poorly overall); on valence (Twitter and f2f high); on closeness (Snapchat, texting and calling high).

Snapchat content was seen as funny, spontaneous, and quotidian; there were also lower self-presentational concerns. It was also seen as ephemeral and restricted, requiring immediate engagement because otherwise content would soon disappear again. Interactions were primarily between close friends.

The key patterns here are a lowered self-presentation that had few long-term risks; a focus on the present because of the ephemerality of content, requiring attention; and a relational maintenance component that involves keeping in touch and social grooming (rather than social support). Snapchat may be filling a gap in the temporal, ephemeral media ecology, now that Facebook is used primarily for more longer-term activities.