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Feb. 7, 2014 Opinion
Will Snapchat die like the rest?
Is this popular photo app just a fad like so many other apps? By Kevin Klar
Staff Writer
O
“new” app is sure to be overused eventually and wither away. Surely such a dreary little app will fade just like its photos, right? Not likely. According to businessinsider. com, the app alone is collectively hitting nearly 400 million “snaps” a day. That is a lot of 10-second pictures. Snap, pause. Smile. Snap, pause.
ne of the newest and most popular social media magnets of our tech-filled generation known as Snapchat presents its users with a simple concept, “here today, gone today.” This slogan refers to the app’s unique function to send a photo to someone else with its own “self destruct” timer, deleting the said photo in a matter of seconds after being sent. Get your attention yet? These time-bomb photos can vanish in a matter of 1 to 10 seconds if the sender wishes, and with this small moment of time you are given, 10 seconds could feel like a long time to some of us, depending on the photo’s level of appeal, of course. We can leave it at that, but as much as I love receiving these 10-second little bundles-of-joy, it is a fleeting happiness that fades quickly. Whether it is in the halls, through a passing period, or even during class, you have probably caught this app in action. With a smile, a snap, and a pause, the cycle is repeated by countless users everywhere. With the repetitiveness, this The Voice staff and friends
Chuckle, snap. That is half of us when using this app, and it is simply nothing short of enjoyable. The appeal that Snapchat brings to its users is a light form of communication through pictures, without having to spend 15 minutes taking “that perfect shot.” Really the only way to respond to a Snapchat is with another Snapchat. The time limits engage us more in the
conversations, pushing us to continue on with what can sometimes be turned into a game. With all of this going on, this app urges us to comfortably and spontaneously keep sending more “snaps” to each other. So to all the veterans or future “snappers” out there saying that Snapchat will die, that is nothing but a farfetched statement. The app is still in its prime and still holds much fun to be had.
J. Bednarczyk
Fighting to stay stronger and survive Taking inspiration from tragedy, struggle, and drastic changes By Kanchan Sachchidanand
“I
Staff Writer
walked into the hospital room with my mom. I remember the room being so cold that I didn’t want to change into the weird, uncomfortable paper gown the nurse gave me. My mom made fun of me when I sat down on the bed and made the paper crinkle loudly. Because of how long we waited, I ended up snapping, ‘It’s about time, jeez, man,’ at the poor doctor who came in.” It all began with a simple headache. Isabel* would get these small headaches whenever the weather got colder, but this December was different. She woke up at 4 a.m. on a Monday with the worst migraine in the history of migraines. It was so bad, her parents ran in to hear her screaming. They went in, had some scans done, got her some pain meds, a pair of glasses, and the most bland iced tea possible to ease her migraine, and eventually it subsided. Once the doctors finished all the scans, they sent Isabel home with a “We’ll call you,” and eventually, the trip was forgotten. Until that fateful Saturday, that is. “He had this sad expression on his face that I look back and loathe. ‘Isabel, you need to look at something. And so does your mom.’ He gave us these scans of my brain and I
saw this weird gray lump near the front.” “‘What’s that?’ I looked up and his sad face turned to sympathy. ‘It’s a tumor.’ My mom looked at him for a few seconds, touched my face, and then left the room. I wanted to punch her, for leaving me, for making me feel alone when I needed her. I guess that was her way of telling me that she wasn’t strong enough to deal with this. Not when it
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I could tell you some BS about feeling like I should take life more seriously but that is unfortunately not the case.
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was her first kid. Not when it was me.” “That day, I just sat on the couch and stared at the ceiling. I didn’t know what to do, what to say, or even what to think. I became a zombie the rest of the day. My phone buzzed, I didn’t respond. My computer beeped, I didn’t respond. If the world ended that day, I wouldn’t have
noticed.” I can’t describe to you the look on Isabel’s face when she told me how she might die. She has big brown eyes, but that day they looked almost black as she tried to hide her feelings. But she could only talk about it for so long before she broke down. “You don’t ever think about this type of thing at 17, you know? You worry about getting homework done, getting a boyfriend, finding the right shade of foundation. You don’t sit there and think, ‘I might have a tumor.’” Although the diagnosis was very recent, her doctors have come up with a few of the most obvious ways to treat the tumor, and since it is not growing at a very rapid rate just yet, they have time to find her better options. The most frightening option for her is to have a surgery done. There is also chemotherapy, but with that there is a guarantee that she will lose her hair, unlike in surgery. “I could tell you some BS about feeling like I should take life more seriously, but that is unfortunately not the case. I will not let this cancer take over my life, and I will not change. I will always be this happy, loud, smiley girl I was, and I won’t let this or any other obstacle change who I am, no matter what happens.” *Name has been changed
A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time: 1/100th of a second.