Rain in NYC – My Doubtful Moment – Snapchat is the devil

Today, in New York City, it is raining. Sounds of water droplets splashing on the window are easing and peaceful, making this bustled city a little less New-York. Suddenly, NYC just becomes a common city. Not the city-that-never-sleeps like how people often label it.

From the moment I created this blog, I have pushed myself to think more about what I will research and write about. “I don’t want to screw up. I want to do well. I want to build a place where I can be professional,” I thought so. Taking notes of things that happen around me, and talking with as many people as possible, I have indeed come up with many thoughts and ideas. But for some reasons, it is the hardest job ever to push myself to analyze, and write long articles for readers. I simply don’t find the motivation to do it, and such moments make me doubtful of the dream that I have been chasing. “Maybe, maybe, being a journalist is not the job I want. Maybe, I have just been lying to myself from childhood, because I cannot find anything else that I am interested in. Maybe, I just want to be proud; that’s why I tell others I want to be a journalist.”

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 Snapchat gives me nightmare.

Looks so creepy to me

According to this article, until October 2013, the number of Snapchat US users was 26 million. I signed up for Snapchat last week because too many of my friends use it (besides Facebook) as a way to communicate.

Sure, Snapchat is fun. I can take selfies and add funny messages to my pictures, sending them to my friends. Or I can take a video that lasts for only 7s as a maximum time. I laughed out loud a lot, SNAPCHATTING (yes yes, in my teenagers’ environment, snapchat is a word) with my friends because I can see their weird face expressions and how funny they are. I also like how all the messages with some acquaintances are gone forever after our conversations, so we won’t be able to roll back the history and see what we used to talk about.

But, what horrifies me is that Snapchat does not allow users to see messages they have sent. Once a user sends a picture or a message, he/she cannot look at it again. Isn’t it terrifying to not be able to read your messages? Especially, when the main users for snapchat are teenagers who can be reckless with what they put on social media.

I would not also recommend Snapchat for close friends who often have great conversations with one another. Personally, I would like to come back and read what we used to discuss, but Snapchat does not have this function.

More importantly, I always wonder: “Where do my pictures end up?” Does the company collect and record all of these images and messages? I just don’t feel safe with Snapchat. And the more I use snapchat, the more I grow bored with how I always take selfies. I also hate how I am only allowed to write a small amount of words (like Twitter!).

I just have a feeling that to many of my friends: Pictures > Words. They don’t like to read, but love to use Instagram. They don’t know what WordPress is, but are best friends with Tumblr. I am not trying to deny the value of images, but when a whole generation is becoming obsessed with pictures and lazy to read, there is something wrong. When Facebook news feed is full of statuses with terrible grammar, there is something needed to be fixed.

Social media: best friend or devil?

-Nhi