Sunny Side of Snapchat. As Seen Through a Non-Millennial's [My] Eyes.

“What gift excited you this holiday?” was my January opener with a young, 20 something co-worker. He said, “I was mega excited to get glasses with camera. You know, they were hard to find and I was not expecting it.”

I replied, “You mean snapchat spectacles that are sold vending machine style." He paused for a moment and added with all the innocence. "Well, you know about Snapchat?”  

I felt “Ouch.” I remembered echoes of similar conversation with my parent generation about Google search and Internet - with similar innocence.

I have been studying Snapchat like a puzzle around such stereotypes- how social norms across generations impact digital success. Here are a few.

A toast to the Sunny side through the decades.

In mid 1990’s, avatars were popular. Anonymity was the unspoken, accepted norm online. Last decade, Facebook merged avatars and individual persona into one. 

Access to information was expensive. Google search changed that.

Implicit in all this, Google, Facebook and the likes ushered in a belief – the heart of Internet is permanence of information. Social networks became a place where we share good memories and showcase how great our lives are to our high school classmates, family and friends. Nice and yet incomplete.

Within a generation we swung two extremes- from anonymity to permanence. And a new generation came along, and found a sweet spot in between that is more real. You can showcase the best of you and yet you are allowed to be silly digitally– if you choose to.

When I first heard of the mobile app called Snapchat, I thought of scenes in James Bond and Mission Impossible movies. Messages or device carrying the photos and videos vaporize after Bond or Hunt read the message.  In reality, the self-destruct is less dramatic with snaps [the jargon for the snapchat messages]. Yet, the intent is similar.

Can you build on that one construct? Snapchat proved it can.

Stories and Not Feed

And beyond self-destruct of snaps when they are read, snapchat has a feature that destructs in 24 hours. They are not called feeds. They are not called shares. They are called stories. You have a winner in the name. 

Stories draw us. And add a sense of urgency to boot. That combo makes them irresistible.

Features like the above can make you standout [and even copied], what sustains a platform are social norms. 

The best of Snapchat are the social norms.

1)  Easier to meet social expectations: A photo sent on Facebook carries a social burden. It typically demands an acknowledgment at the minimum. A response is ideal. That is the unspoken norm. Facebook did not define it. Audience did. Somewhere along the way, that expectation is not there on Snapchat. You can send a video or a picture and include captions or stickers, but there is no obligation to respond back or continue a conversation. 

2)  Your attention need not be exhaustive, Less triumphs.  Users typically post one or two pictures of an event rather than exhaustive posts. Extending that philosophy, Snap’s spectacles are minimalistic and cool. A world of difference from the epic Google glasses. The theme of the norm - Less is perfect.

3)  You do not need to be perfect: The message behind the permanence of older platforms - project your best self and virality of shares is the cool aid. With Snapchat, the subtext is different. Sometimes, it is ok to live in the moment, share our quirks and life is more fun that way.

Sometimes, the last one reads like our grandparent advice.

Sunny Side Summary: Grandparent to Grandchild.

Our grandparents had conversations – not all of which were recorded. The aura of tales [and quirks of the world] they shared with us are memories to relish. 

Our generation marshaled permanence of memories in the digital world. Our albums became digital and frequent. 

And generation next wanted best of both worlds- digital attention and non-permanence. And an opportunity to share those embarrassing little moments that constitute real life – not with the world but few of the closest. To make digital more complete and more authentic.

Snapchat (now called Snap, Inc) has chosen to capitalize on this sweetspot. Its IPO last week is a proof that there is sunny side if you choose to look at the evolving social norms in the digital world - with an open mind. 

Karthik Rajan

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