5 Reasons Why I Stopped Using Snapchat

Instagram and Facebook have taken pages out of Snapchat’s book recently, but Snapchat’s features are clearly unmatched because people are taking Snapchat content and posting it everywhere. I stopped using Snapchat months ago but can’t seem to escape seeing reminders of it all over my newsfeed so I thought it’d be wise to share why I gave up on the popular app.

 

1. It drained my phone’s battery.

I attempted to use Snapchat consistently for about a month and had to recharge my phone multiple times a day. I’m not sure how much operating power it took, but I was over the recharging after my first three days. In addition to consistently forcing me to find the nearest thunderbolt cord far too often, the app randomly shut down on my phone a lot. It just wasn’t worth the extra hassle so I stopped trying.

2. It negatively impacted my self-confidence.

There’s a filter on Snapchat that I absolutely loved to use and I called it the nose job filter because it made my entire face look slimmer and helped my nose appear to be smaller than it actually is. It also put some type of tint over me that made me feel popping. But when I realized that I stopped being satisfied with regular selfies because they “didn’t look as good” as my Snapchat ones, I knew something was wrong. I don’t wanna sound all preachy and “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” and whatnot, but that’s what I had to remind myself. If I can’t dig myself without the extras and post that online, then I shouldn’t be posting anything at all. I recently saw someone post that their “face was beat” by a makeup artist, but I couldn’t see the makeup they were speaking of because it was covered with a Snapchat filter, nose and all. I’ve accepted the fact that my eyes are the darkest of brown and my skin is not always flawless and you should too.

If all your recent photos and videos have a Snapchat filter on them, I encourage you to do a self-evaluation and determine why. What do you really look like? Your followers want to see that, trust me.

3. I wasn’t really interested in anyone’s stories.

Maybe I wasn’t following the right people, but most Snapchat stories didn’t appeal to me. At all. There were the stories of people lip syncing in the car. Playing in their hair while listening to music. Posting bottles of liquor. The #WorkFlow pictures of cubicles. And of course the infamous dog filter posts. In the words of Sweet Brown, ain’t nobody got time for that! I found myself watching the stories of about three or four people and then being done with Snapchat for the day. Oh and my snaps weren’t the most interesting either, I just liked posting pictures of shoes and sharing random thoughts.

4. People use the app wrong.

Again, I admit that I probably could have found more people to follow who use the Snapchat app the way I believe it was intended. I imagine the creators of Snapchat thought it’d be a fun and quirky way to share small snippets of your day. A cool way to publish creative stories that show what life is like in your shoes. But somehow it turned into something totally different thanks to misuse by the masses. People use it to be vain, inappropriate, and downright annoying. It’s kind of like how Facebook was better when you needed a college email address… When too many people found out about Snapchat, they ruined it by posting basura (use your Spanish to English translator if you’re confused).

5. It’s a waste of time.

Above all else, Snapchat does nothing to increase my productivity or income. I was persuaded to download the app by a friend and without her, I would’ve never had an interest in it at all. I’ll admit that I do find some of the filters cute and funny, but haven’t found a way for Snapchat to help me with my business or brand. It’s simply a waste of time. Like what’s the purpose of putting a digital flower crown on your head and recording multiple videos? Or why do so many people want ears with a little black dot on their nose in all their pictures these days? If and when I’m able to use Snapchat strategically, I’ll have no problem rejoining the rest of the Snapchatters out there. Until then, I will have to sit out on the pointless time-wasting shenanigans that accompany Snapchat usage.

Are you a fan of Snapchat? Why or why not?

Note: I did get on Snapchat today to utilize the filters for research purposes only and capture the images for this post, headscarf and all. #NoShameInMyGame. I also may create a geofilter for an event I have coming up next month. I’m not anti-Snapchat, but it just can’t be a part of my daily social media life.