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To start, Snapchat is a social platform where people can share their "Story" (photos and/or videos strung together to create a narrative) as well as discover new ones.
Start here and then click through the blog to learn 101s, tricks, tips and ideas for using Snapchat as well as people and brands to check out and cool things to see.We also are sharing the business-savvy angle of Snapchat - it's heating up and marketers and brands are running to get in the mix. We can't blame there - there are 100 million active users.
First, let's share the basics.
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). Click here to check out a super short video how to actually do 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.
Now that you have a handle on the general things you can do with Snapchat, let's have a quick intro to the 3 MAIN SCREENS you will find when you launch Snapchat and swipe left and right.