#10 Photo Sharing

I have refused to use Snapchat for no reason other than I am a 40 year old woman and it seems like something I only hear tweens and teens using.  Well, and because I have enough apps in my life.

However, because it's probably a smart idea to at least see how this works, I'll go download it and see what I think.  Maybe I'll Snapchat my fifteen-year-old and really freak her out.......

Fifteen minutes later:

I made an account.  Logged in.  Sent some Snaps to my daughter (she didn't reply, which surprised me), then sent some to myself between my phone and iPad.  They were instant and the whole thing was easy enough to use....but absolutely not for me.  I deleted my account within 30 minutes of creating it. (That part was nice and easy, though I had to go online to do it.)

I see why teens might like Snapchat.  I would not....I just have no need.   Snapchat makes me nervous because of the idea that kids have that these photos just go away.....nothing goes away, and this is a great lesson on digital footprint.  These are easy to screenshot and I have heard more than one story about these wreaking havoc on kids and their personal lives.  I know my daughter has this app, but I don't think she uses it much.  She's a texter. Kids with clueless parents could get into some trouble with this one...heck, even kids with parents in the know could get into trouble.  Snapchat is synonymous with nudity in a number of circles.  Ewwww.



I have an Instagram account, but I don't use it (and I only really have it because I can log in via Facebook).  I have lots of friends who use it, and swear by it. When I logged in tonight, to work on this "thing", I was surprised to see I am "following" 25 people and have 31 followers.  Not sure how that happens.  Maybe one of those weird Pinterest type deals where someone just looks at your name or clicks something and then you're best friends???  In exploring the settings, I saw that 119 of my Facebook friends are on Instagram and I'm following some but not others (and I honestly don't remember doing that?)  Instagram can even suggest people I can follow......which I guess is cool....if I need another feed to follow, which I really, really, really don't.  Honestly, most of these people I'm in "following relationships" with on here are connected to me via Twitter and Facebook (and post these same pics there) so this is kind of overkill for me.

Yes, Instagram can make pictures pretty.  I took one of my cat being lazy.  I changed some hues, zoomed in, lightened it, captioned it, and posted it.  I suppose if I were 15 I would sit there and see how many likes I get.

But I won't.

I share a lot of photos, but 95% of that sharing is on Facebook..... and the other 5% is via text.  Maybe I'm just old, but that's really good enough for me.