Tuesday, April 4, 2017

#7- Social Media

Social Media Stories

The app Snapchat first became popular around 2011/2012. On Snapchat, users can send pictures and chat messages to their friends and family members. Special filters can be placed over people’s faces for fun, and there’s also a page on the app where users can read different news stories. Another feature of Snapchat are the Stories. The app first released this feature in October 2013. Users have the option to send one of their “snaps” to their Story where those who are friends with them can view their Story and send a reply to it if they wish. Over the years, other social media websites have decided to follow in Snapchat’s path and add their own Story options to their apps. Should other apps have adopted this feature, or should they have left it to Snapchat?
My personal favorite social media app to put stories on is Snapchat. I prefer using Snapchat more because I enjoy the filters they have on there. You can turn yourself into a dog or a cat using one of the available filters, and you can also add colored filters, emojis, and geotags (logos that represent special locations) to your pictures. Also, when you watch a Story on Snapchat, you can watch it as many times as you want without it showing on the user’s account how many times you viewed. I like to be a little nosy sometimes so I like that it only shows that you watched it once instead of 20 times. Snapchat was the original creator of having a Story option so it’s no wonder why I think they do it best.
Instagram Stories can around in August of last year. These stories are at the top of the app’s front page. People can take pictures with the Instagram camera and then add color filters, text, drawing, and stickers. I haven’t used Instagram Stories, but I have only just started using Instagram again so I might look into it. I don’t really have any gripes or complaints about Instagram Stories. They are simple, easy to use, and enjoyable to look at. This summer, I'm going to be experimenting more with Instagram Stories for my Fundamentals of Digital Cinema class, so afterward I will probably have a more expert opinion regarding this feature.
Facebook also added a Stories option in March of this year for its users. These stories appear at the top of the homepage, and users can take pictures with the Facebook app’s new camera. I checked this camera out the other day. While I wasn’t expecting to like it, I found myself thinking it was pretty cool. The Facebook camera has a variety of filters, much more to choose from than on Snapchat. They might not be the same popular filters that people have come to associate with Snapchat, but they are still fun to play around with. Users can take these pictures they take on the camera and place them onto their Facebook Story.

Although the Stories option for Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook feature mostly similar features, Snapchat is still the one that most people use if they want to post a Story. Instagram Stories are on the climb to being as popular as Snapchat Stories, while Facebook Stories still hasn’t really caught on yet. I personally see more people posting Stories on Snapchat and Instagram than on Facebook. In my opinion, Snapchat still has the coolest filters, and they are constantly adding new ones (including some recent filters that add 3D objects onto pictures). I don’t mind other social media apps taking ideas from Snapchat because, honestly, every app somewhat borrow ideas from other apps. Nothing is exactly original anymore in today’s media.

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