Another way to see and save your Snaps is to have them emailed directly to your inbox per month. Kind of like Snaps tied up in a pretty red bow. #Cool We discovered a neat site that does just this - Snapchat Memories. Just sign up for free with your username and Snapchat email and every month you will get your Snaps delivered right to your virtual door.
Snapchat released a new and awesome software update today. We did a quick iPhone video to share more about what the new features and options are plus we show you how to use them. #Cool
Click through to check out our 3-minute video and also head into Snapchat Discover and click on the Ghost with the rainbow coming out of his mouth (Oh...Snapchat #Cheeky) for a cute animation about the new update. And you can also click here for a full break down of all the goodies over @ Tech Crunch.
P.P.S. UPDATE ON 3/30 - So....guess what? The awesome hack I share just above NO LONGER WORKS with the 3/29 software update. Yes, you now can add about 50 characters and use the Return button to get to the next line but cannot use this hack. Read more here. #Blargh
You may have seen a new emoji appearing with the Snapchat March 2016 update - an hourglass. What does this mean and why do you care? Let's start with the latter first - you probably won't care unless you are 18 and under but here's a bit more 411 if you are interested. When you are active in the Chat section of Snapchat (or the LEFT screen - Recent Activity and Friends), emojis will appear next to your contacts' names. Snapchat has assigned emojis based upon interactions (or lack of them) with your contacts. IMO, a totally useless item for the 30, 40, 50-something set. It's a status thing and most people who are not 18 just won't care. The new hourglass emoji simply means that your Snapstreak with your friend is soon coming to an end. (P.S. a Snapstreak is simply when you and a friend are sending several Snaps back and forth to each other. Whateves.)
If you really care that the person you Snap privately most with is your BFF (hi, yellow heart) then keep reading below for the list of emojis and meanings.
If you really don't care then it's all good :) (I am with you on this one, friends)
DEFINITIONS
Snapstreak with that friend is about to end
Someone has replayed this person's snaps in the past 24 hours. They must have something interesting to show.
You are #1 best friends with each other. You send the most snaps to this person, and they send the most snaps to you.
You have been #1 BFs with each other for two weeks straight.
You have been #1 BFs with each other for two months straight. Dedication!
You just became friends with someone on Snaphat
One of your BFFs is one of their best friends. U both send a lot of snaps to someone they also send a lot of snaps to.
You send the most snaps to the same person that they do. Awkward.
You are one of their best friends …but they are not a best friend of yours. U don't send them Snaps, they send u.
Another best friend of yours. You send this person a lot of snaps. Not your #1 best friend, but they are up there.
You are on a Snapstreak! You have snapped this person every day, and they have snapped you back. Increases with number of consecutive days.
The 100 emoji appears next to the fire when you snap back and forth with someone for one hundred days in a row.
Have you ever wanted to doodle on your Snaps in white or black instead of a color? We totally hear you and have a super easy hack that allows you to do just that. #YAAAAAAAS Click through to watch this short video with Rebecca explaining and showing you exactly how to mix up your colors to shades - White and Black. Still need to learn how to draw on your Snaps (photos and videos)? We got you - click here to check out our video on adding artwork, text and emojis. Have fun, friends.
If you have spent time in the STORIES section (you can read all about how to do and view STORIES here), then you know some of them can be pretty long. Which we love and we sometime don't love. Tapping and tapping to get to the end of one. If you are looking to leave a STORY early, there's a super simple action you can do and you are out. Click through to check out our short video about how to swipe out in one motion or read the one step below:
Swipe DOWN with your finger.
The screen will return to the main STORIES screen where you can access anything and everything avail. Happy Snapchatting Gen Y and Gen Xers.
One of the most inspiring aspects of Snapchat (IMO) are the STORIES. This is where you and the people using Snapchat share their narrative, their daily slice of life.
When you take a photo or video and add it to your STORY, it will live there for only 24hours. (See our post about Snapchat's 24-HOUR LIFE CYCLE) Your Snaps allow a space to express your personality, style, vibe. It's a very fun and cool way to let people know who you are, what you love, what you live for.
We did a video taking you through the STORIES screen (the right screen). There are tons of things to discover here, watch, experience and it can be overwhelming if you don't know where to begin or how to use it.
Don't worry, friends, we got you. This video is about 12 min long but worth going through to see how to watch and even download your own Story, check out the promoted brands on DISCOVER, check out Snapchat curated LIVE STORIES (literally current events happening) as well as all the people that you personally follow.
We take you through it all and guide you through it. We promise once you learn, you will be rocking Stories every day - at least viewing what people are up to (if you are a little shy to post your Snaps - it's all good).
When you take an amazing Snap for your Story, sometimes one filter is just not enough, right? We totally think so and wanted to share with you how to do just that. Click to check out our 1 minute video that shows how you can add more than one filter to your Snaps.
#OhSnap
View the video in motion or see the HOW-TO below.
1: Take a photo or video
2: Swipe right and select your filter
3: Hold your finger down on your screen then use another finger to swipe right again to activate your filter options
BUT - they got rid of the HACK that I just shared in this video. #Boooooooo
No longer can you copy and paste lines from your NOTES app to get more lines in the Text section. #TotalBummer
No word on who, what where, when or why but, for now, this HACK is a bust. I'll keep looking and trying for a new options so stay with me here. If you'd like, watch the video to see how you used to be able to do this. #Argh
#HappySnapchatting
You will quickly see that you can only use up to 31 characters in the TEXT option. But what if you want to write an inspirational quote? Or tell a story about your kid? Don't worry, we got you.
Here's a super easy Snapchat Hack (for iOs users only at this time) that will give you a lot more space to get your awesome thought across in your Snaps.
Check out my video right here and/or read on.
1. Go into NOTES on your iPhone
2. Open a new note and PRESS THE RETURN BUTTON a few times to get 4, 5 or however many rows you want.
3. HIGHLIGHT & COPY the empty rows you created.
4. Go back to your Snapchat, take your pic or video, press T and then PASTE THE EMPTY ROWS IN THE TEXT SPACE ON THE BLACK BAR. Voila - tons of new lines for you to express yourself.
5. Nw write your heart out.
*A quick note - at this time, you have to manually move your cursor (via your fingertip) to the following line vs. just pressing return in the snap text space. It's all good. You will be ok.
There are tons of filters that you can layer over your photos and videos. Why do this? Because it's part of the Snapchat experience and it's a lot of fun. A cool and easy way to express your style and vibe. In this video, I talk about the different filters and how to access them. I also talk about Face Mapping and how to activate the animated filters or lenses.
While there are standard filters for both video and photos, there are some that change frequently. The animated filters are pretty real-time. For example, there was a fun Leprechaun filter that spewed gold coins out of your mouth and gave you a gold beard and green top hat on St. Patricks Day. A few days later, it's gone. See you next year, St. Paddy's Day filter.
As you are watching the video and find that you aren't up to speed on some of the basics we mention, START HERE and then come on back.
Here's a list of current standard filters:
P H O T O F I L T E R S
Geofilter
Geofilter
Phone Energy
Timestamp
Outside Temp
MPH
B/W Color
Saturated Color
Sepia Color
Magic Youth Color (like time in a bottle, people)
V I D E O F I L T E R S
Geo-tagged filters (based on your current location)
Reverse Speed (a little Missy Elliott style)
Super Fast Forward Speed
Fast Forward Speed
Slow Speed
Timestamp
Outside temp
MPH
B/W Color
Saturated Color
Sepia Color
Magic Youth Color (my personal fave - like time in a bottle)
______________________________________________
And here's a quick video that shows you how to do face mapping to launch the animated filters.
Once you do the face mapping, it launches all of the lenses/filters. See them in the video - the row of circles? The face mapping allows the filters and lenses to use your face to launch the animations. So, for example, when the rainbow lens asks you to open your mouth, perhaps a stream of rainbows spews on out of there. #Fun :)
Snapchat Stories are all about a 24 hour life cycle.
Every image or video that you post to your own STORY will disappear 24 hours from the time it is post.
Every image or video that a friend, person or brand you follow posts to their STORY will disappear 24 hours from the time it is posted.
Every Snapchat-curated LIVE STORY will disappear within 24 hours from when it was posted.
That's where some of the Snapchat magic is. People are constantly updating and basically evolving their Story. There is no end really. They just keep adding images and videos when they want and - boom - they are updating their stream.
For example, when Lady Gaga sang the National Anthem @ Super Bowl 50, she added in video footage to her own Snapchat Story. This was true behind-the-scenes content that you literally could only see in her Story if you followed her. If you went back to watch it again 2 days later, it was gone. The 24 Hour Cycle time limit made it disappear. (I saw it and it was pretty rad.) Again, the coolness and magic of Snapchat - seeing super exclusive content and sharing that you cannot find anywhere else. And content that is total IRL.
When people say "I don't get Snapchat" - this is a big part of it. They may not know how it "works" from a content gathering POV. When you go into the Right Screen - Stories, you will find everything there. (See our video about the STORIES screen and how to do and view Stories.) The most current (time-wise) people you follow will be at the top. Don't see your friend on the Stories list although you are connected? It's because they haven't posted anything.
Now that you know a little more about the 24 Hour Cycle, go check out Stories. You will immediately see what I am explaining. You got this :)
When Snapchat launched just two years ago, it was the perfect life distraction for the teen-set. For the 30+ set - um no. Disappearing photos of your friend making a face? No thanks.
But in the last several months, Snapchat has truly evolved into an engaging and impactful social community. While you can still send personal snaps (photos or videos) to your friend and they will disappear, you can also share your own public Story and discover other ones.
Need a little more convincing? Here are a few pretty solid statistics that have been releases this March on ROI for brands and marketers, specifically.
77% of Snapchat users are over the age of 18
100 million Snapchat users are active daily
7 billion videos are viewed daily on Snapchat
60% of 13-34 year-olds are Snapchat users
Brands can see 80% Snapchat engagement rates
Basically, Snapchat is currently a hub of social activity. There is so much organic content on here that you cannot find anywhere else. I believe that's the magic.
Here's a quick overview of the functions inside Snapchat. This is a great start to learning about what Snapchat is and what you can do with it.
SNAPS:Photos and Videos (both can be from 1 - 10 seconds long) you "snap" (or take) and then share to your Story. You can also the photo or image (or Snap) privately to one or many friends. These particular Snaps will disappear after they are viewed.
STORY: A series of pictures or videos (or Snaps) that string together to creative a narrative. You can add any of the photos or images you take and add them to your Story. They stick around for 24 hours from the time an image or video is posted. Friends’ stories are found to the right of the home screen. Users can also broadcast stories for all to see in their own Story. You can do this by pressing the + with the square around it on that appears on the bottom left after you take a photo. Check out our video explaining STORIES.
CHAT 2.0:These are personal snapchats with friends and contacts. One-to-one texts that disappear between 1 - 10 seconds once you navigate away from the chat screen. You can replay them 1 time only. As of March 29th, Chat 2.0 was released - a major upgrade to this section. Now you can make wi-fi phone calls, wi-fi live phone calls (like FaceTime), send over 200+ stickers/images, make 1-10 second video GIFs yourself and share with a friend and more. Chats are found to the left of the home screen. Learn more about Chat in our video right here.
CAMERA: At the bottom of the camera screen, press once on round camera button to take a photo. Hold down to take a 1 - 10 second video. Pinch the screen to zoom. Switch from rear to front camera by double tapping the camera icon in the upper right. All photos and videos are vertical.
TEXT + ART: After you take a photo or image, you can add text + art layers to it before posting to your Story or sharing your Snap with a friend. Tap the text icon then resize by pinching and adjust color. To add more than 1 filter layer, hold your finger down on one filter and then swipe again with another finger - you can add up to 3. Tap the emoji button to add your fave (you can pinch to resize these if you want) and add drawings with the doodling pencil tool. Learn all things artwork, emojis and text in our video right here.
PHOTO FILTERS: After you take a photo or image, you can add a filter to it before posting to your Story or sharing your Snap with a friend. Swipe right to add time, temp stamp, color, or a geo-location themed layer. Keep swiping to add multiple filters and effects. Check out our video about FILTERS.
FACE MAPPING: After you take a video, you can add an animated filter to it before posting to your Story or sharing your Snap with a friend. Now that you can add animated filters, your camera has to register your face to activate the animations. When in the camera screen, face your camera towards you (Selfie mode) and tap your face on your phone screen. This action will activate a face mask - a gray layer that covers your face initially. (Sometime you need to move your finger up and down your face to get it activated). Check out our video about FACE MAPPING.
ANIMATED VIDEO FILTERS + LENSES: Now that your face is masked and registered, various themed circles on the bottom of your phone screen will appear. Swipe left to go through the list of filters. Some direct you to open your mouth or eyes and will match your facial movements. All are fun. Want to learn how to use animated lenses? Click here to see our video.
FRIENDS: Adding friends in Snapchat is not the most simple thing as you cannot search by name. You must know their Snapchat Username or have them in your contacts to snap directly or follow their Story. You will also sometimes see random emojis next to your Friends - they actually mean something in status. IMO, who cares but click here to see emoji definitions. And want to learn how to add and access your Friends in our video.
SNAPCODES:A way to promote your Snapchat account and add friends. Share your Snapcode (like a QR code) on other channels to get friends in Snapchat by them scanning it on their phone to add. We talk about this in our Intro to 3 Screens video. What is this yellow square? See our video to learn just that.
One of the fun goodies about Snapchat is the action of adding artwork, text and/or emojis right over your photo or video. It's super easy, fun and a cool way to express your personality.
Click through to check out my video explaining the different icons and how these actions work.
If you are thinking the above....you are not alone. We completely understand why you may be WTF? We were the same way. And then we learned how to use it. Trust us.
First, let's simply put it out there, Snapchat is just NOT intuitive. It's clunky. It's confusing. It's not easy to figure out if you are new to the platform. But, don't worry and don't be frustrated - we got you. That's what this blog is all about.
This first video covers the THREE MAIN SCREENS - Camera, Stories and Chat. I spend some time explaining each of them, how to access each one and what the icons on the screens mean. I will be doing additional videos on each screen and share more detail and knowledge on how to use them.
In the meantime, this is a good start - go for it. Snapchat was, yes, a social space for kiddos to text silly and, most likely, disappearing stupid photos to each other. Now it's a digital media platform, hosting over 100+ million active users daily. That's a lot of users and a shitload of content. All fresh, all real-time, all exclusive to that User and all fun. It's worth learning how to use it even if you don't want to personally be active on it.
But that is what we are here for. To sweetly hand-hold you down the Snapchat rabbit hole. It's not that bad nor hard to use. In fact, we promise it's slightly (ok very) addictive, cool, inspiring and fun.
Hi, I'm Rebecca - a veteran in the ad and marketing world, a blogger maven, a mama, design lover and a whole lot more. And I am a (very very very new) 40 yr old and a very active daily Snapchat user. I wanted to created an accessible and cool little spot on the world wide web for the 30+ set to learn about Snapchat and how to enjoy it for personal use as well as for business. And I wanted it to be easy so I decided to create a simple and streamlined blog. The blog will feature a 101 on all things Snapchat including tricks, how-to's, marketing, news, trends, people and brands worth following and more.
If you love....skimming news, checking out facebook often, posting daily to IG, tweeting and RTing your heart out...then Snapchat is your new BFF.
If you hate wasting anytime online...then probably not.
My only Snapchat warning - it's a TOTAL TIME SUCK but I think in the best way. What was a "quick Snapchat check-in" may easily become an hour or more of your time not working, not sleeping, not playing with your kiddos. Basically, it's super sticky (it has you coming back for more and more) and tends to take over as you discover Stories and how people are expressing themselves.
So, WTF is Snapchat?
1. It's just a social platform like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
2. It's a place for you to share your Story through Snaps (i.e. photos + videos) with others. (Read more here)
3. It's a place to discover people and their Stories. It's not just where 12 year old kids send silly pics to their friends that disappear forever 5 seconds later. (Yes, you can still do that but Snapchat has evolved to something so much more dimensional and interesting.) Think Facebook - you post pics of your life here and there and your friends can follow your wall to see your narrative. You can do the same thing on Snapchat - it's just a different execution. That's all.
4. It's a place where you can Chat with a friend or group - the same thing as texting but with a few more bells and whistles.
(SNAPCHAT HOMESCREEN)
The biggest obstacle with getting into Snapchat - it's just not intuitive. It's not turn-key. It's not easy. It's not obvious. It's confusing as hell if you don't know how to use it. Look above @ the homescreen - where to begin? No worries, friends - I will show you how to tackle this screen and more. It's easy and fun and a cool way to express yourself.
