网易100天---48、Ephemeral Sharing Makes Snapchat Unique

Snapchat以短暂的互动促成更频繁的联系
Oh Snap! Ephemeral Interactions Make Everyday Connections on Snapchat

Snapchat is one of the most popular photo-messaging smartphone applications available today, and it’s different from other apps in unique ways. Unlike other photo-sharing apps, messages on Snapchat can only be seen for a short time, and disappear after they’re viewed. Communication and technology researchers call this feature auto-deletion: users take a photo — a “snap” — and send it directly to other users. Snap senders can choose how long others can look at their photo before it disappears (between 1 and 10 seconds).

在这里插入代码片

Ephemeral Sharing Makes Snapchat Unique

Snapchat以短暂的互动促成更频繁的联系
Oh Snap! Ephemeral短暂的 Interactions Make Everyday Connections on Snapchat

Snapchat is one of the most popular photo-messaging smartphone applications available today, and it’s different from other apps in unique ways. Unlike other photo-sharing apps, messages on Snapchat can only be seen for a short time, and disappear after they’re viewed. Communication and technology researchers call this feature auto-deletion: users take a photo — a “snap” — and send it directly to other users. Snap senders can choose how long others can look at their photo before it disappears (between 1 and 10 seconds).

Snapchat是目前智能手机上最流行的照片分享应用程序之一，以其独特的方式同其他应用程序区别开来。与其他照片分享应用程序不同，Snapchat上的消息只能在短时间内看到，并在查看后消失。通信和技术研究人员将此功能称为自动删除：用户拍照——“快照”——直接将其发送给其他用户。快照发件人可以设定其他用户在照片删除之前可以访问多久（从1到10秒）。

在这里插入代码片

Ephemeral Sharing Makes Snapchat Unique
温馨提示：正文推送半小时，您将收到精编讲义
Snapchat以短暂的互动促成更频繁的联系
Oh Snap! Ephemeral Interactions Make Everyday Connections on Snapchat
From Medium · 736 words · 7 mins
Snapchat is one of the most popular photo-messaging smartphone applications available today, and it's different from other apps in unique ways. 

Unlike other photo-sharing apps, messages on Snapchat can only be seen for a short time, and disappear after they're viewed. Communication and technology researchers call this feature auto-deletion: users take a photo — a "snap" — and send it directly to other users. Snap senders can choose how long others can look at their photo before it disappears (between 1 and 10 seconds). 

image

The auto-deletion feature might seem frustrating, but it's made Snapchat one of the world's most widely used smartphone photo-messaging apps. So how does the auto-deletion feature of Snapchat make it such a popular communication tool? 

The Study

Researchers from the Social Media Lab at Cornell set out to find an answer to this question. The team interviewed 25 Snapchat users about how and why they use the app. Though people of all ages use the app, it's most popular among people in their late teens and early twenties, so study participants were chosen from a population of college students. 

Participants were asked what they share and why, and how they think auto-deletion changes how they use the app. 

The results of the study show that the unique kind of communication that Snapchat allows (and perhaps the key to its popularity) is tied to the auto-deletion feature. 

Mundane Matters

image

Ephemerality plays a big role in what kinds of Snaps users choose to share. The research team found that users mostly send pictures that are glimpses into their daily lives. Selfies, photos of food or pets, and surroundings are all popular snaps. 

As one user said, Snapchat is used "to inform others who you are with, where you are. To share information, to make someone laugh." Because these photos disappear after only a few seconds, users can share tiny peeks into their everyday lives without cluttering up their friends' text message inboxes. 

Other users take advantage of the ephemeral nature of Snapchat messages to send photos of themselves. 

One user chooses Snapchat over a more permanent platform to tell friends how they're feeling that day: "If I really think I look good on that day, I will send it to everyone. Snapchat is only five seconds long and I feel it's more acceptable than Facebook." Another participant makes use of the auto-deletion feature to "send really ugly faces" back and forth with their close friends, which is "really fun". 

Snapchat makes "mundane talk" easy and accessible to anyone with a smartphone. 

To Screenshot Or Not?

image

Snapchat's auto-deletion feature makes it clear that the app is for "showing not sharing". The user who shares a photo retains a sense of ownership over that photo, meaning that they're still ultimately in control of who else gets to see it. 

However, smartphones have one feature that can potentially throw a wrench in the works of Snapchat's carefully designed auto-deletion: screenshots. Smartphone users can easily save anything that's on their phone's screen, including snaps that the sender may wish would go away. 

Snapchat and its users combat this ability through a combination of technical features and social norms. The app can sense when someone takes a screenshot of a snap, and will then notify the person who sent it. 

These notifications are important to users who send photos with the assumption that they will disappear. Many assume that others "snapshot" their photos in order to share them with others, which is seen as a violation of the social norm against saving privately shared photos. 

What’s Next for Ephemerality?

image

While the ephemeral nature of Snapchat makes it a great tool for strengthening and maintaining close relationships, the auto-deletion feature isn't always great for everyone. Some have voiced concerns that the app could be used to send photos or messages that are bullying, harassing, sexually inappropriate, or otherwise harmful. Teenagers are especially susceptible to those risks, and parents and teachers are rightfully asking what can be done to protect these populations from potentially damaging content. 

The easy answer here is the one that's used for all kinds of new technologies — talk to young adults about the app and who they communicate with, and make sure they understand the risks and benefits. However, new strategies may be needed to help regulate use of a technology where harmful messages don't stick around.