We could write a thesis paper on all of social media’s enigmas – how using #blessed unironically is worthy of a screengrab and an unfollow (and also the fact that those two actions are verbs), or why an appropriate dismissal when caught taking a selfie is the inexplicable, “Oh no, it’s just for Snapchat.”
Not to get all easy-A-elective on you, but it seems as though the one thing every new It app, platform, or product has in common is that it blasts just a little bit more of your life into the inter-ether. There were the biweekly blog posts, then the weekly status updates, then the daily Instagrams, then the hourly tweets – and then came Snapchat, which basically filled in the blanks in between them all with caps-locked captions and scribbled-on party hats.
And we loved every 3-2-1 of it.
That said, there are a few things we don’t find so My Story–worthy about what may be the most easily overusable medium. From the drunken blurs to the chatty monologues (god forbid you accidentally hit that volume button!) to that, er, southerly snap you got out of left field from a Tinder date gone awry, there are a few of us who could use a little etiquette lesson when it comes to the ubiquitous (we can officially say that now that Sofia Vergara has announced a Snapchat-hosted reality show, right?) guilty-pleasure app.
So we enlisted the advice of a few of the classiest, sassiest Snapchatters we know: Laurel Pantin, Erica Domesek, Vashtie Kola, and Irene Kim. Phones in hands and puns at the ready, little ghosts – time for a little grammar school for the social set.
Photo: Jake Rosenberg; Design: Katie Boyle
ON WHAT SHE SNAPS:
“I think the fun of Snapchat is that it’s pretty spontaneous and kind of more intimate and fun than Instagram. I like to include random things that happen throughout my day, especially when I’m traveling. I also LOVE food and really like to do stories that cover every part of a tasting menu or fun meal.”
ON THE NARRATION VERSUS CAPTION DEBATE:
“Definitely captions. I don’t love it when there’s lots of sound in my Snapchat feed.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BREVITY:
“For pictures, I usually stick to three seconds, unless it’s something that involves a lot of reading, or there are a lot of details – then I’ll go to five, but never longer. Also if I’m shopping or something while I’m traveling I like to post little one-second peeks at things I’m seeing. I like to keep it short and sweet!”
ON SNAPCHAT VERSUS INSTAGRAM:
“Since joining Snapchat I use Instagram waayyyy less. I really love the informality of Snapchat. There’s so much that goes into an IG post and scrolling through my feed a lot of it feels kind of staged lately, so it’s nice to have a sillier, more authentic distraction.”
ON WHEN AND WHY SHE JOINED:
“I joined back in October when I was at Lucky, and it was because Eva Chen and Kristie Dash were so obsessed with it! I didn’t really understand what it was for at first, but it took me about 13 minutes to be completely sucked in.”
ON HER BIGGEST SNAPCHAT PET PEEVES:
“Honestly my biggest one is long videos of talking. I keep my phone on silent all the time, which I think a lot of people do, and I don’t want to have to turn the sound up or have the story be broadcast to everyone around me.”
ON HER FAVORITE ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW:
“Eva Chen’s is spectacular, as is all of her social media content. I also really love Jamie Beck and her husband Kevin Burg’s personal accounts – they’re both really, really funny and give me crazy travel envy. Conde Nast Traveler‘s feed is also stellar!”
