Disclaimer: I've never used Snapchat. And I'm An Old (37).

I just can't get behind "stories" on Instagram. In fact, I'm not even really sure why I use Instagram instead of just posting the same photos on FB; it's sorta a random decision, but it's enjoyable enough, I guess.

But I just have no desire to click on some thing you decided to share, and be captive to your content, and whatever pacing you chose, whether bad or good, and worry about whether the sound will be blaring or not. I'd much rather scroll through photos for a second or 500 seconds or whatever my attention span happens to be at that moment -- to fill the amount of time I have to fill, not to be captive for as long as you want me to be.

I'm slowly realizing that every time I see "kids these days" taking endless amounts of time "taking pictures", they're actually creating these stories/snaps/whatever that are apparently as tedious to create as they are to consume. My most recent experience with it was out hiking at a state park, and I kept accidentally stumbling into the background of a photo, so I'd go back to the group i was with, and then start going up the trail again a minute later, and they're STILL THERE "taking photos". I don't mind the fact that they're blocking the trail, I'm in no hurry and if I wanted to be on my way I'd just walk through whatever they're shooting, that's fine. I'm happy to accomodate whatever they're trying to do, I appreciate it when people pause to stay out of a photo I'm composing as well. But it all just seems like the polar opposite of "living in the moment".

It sounds like you aren’t a good fit for the platform. Plenty of people get a lot of enjoyment out of Instagram. Like anything, it depends on how you choose to use it and interact with it.

Personally I follow a lot of artists and I enjoy seeing their art on Instagram. You get to choose what you expose yourself to.

In regards to people taking lots of photos, I don’t really see the harm. They enjoy it, so let them.

Your reply is sort of the standard response to criticism for any platform, appearing to defend reddit, facebook, etc.

It doesn't address the essence of the criticism though, that there is a way that is easiest to use a platform, and that way is followed by the majority of people.

If someone says caltrops are dangerous, and you reply with the idea that they can be used to clean gunk from under fingernails, you have not added anything to the conversation.

As I mentioned, I enjoy the static photos on Instagram; occasionally I try to get into following other folks' stories, but mostly I get annoyed by the captivity of them. I follow about half friends and half artists or other fun-to-look-at stuff (cars, pets, whatever).

I did a story once; I was on solo vacation and spending the day biking through Austrian wine country. It was actually pretty fun to play with, more so than I expected. I was also learning along the way, making mistakes, learning from them. That was the best part. It's not something I'd normally want to subject myself to; a quick snapshot is all i can usually be bothered with. But I can see why they're enjoyable to make if you have nothing else going on.

You're not an Old. Don't buy into this. The worship of < 27yo culture is pervasive, pernicious and toxic; and should be called out. Nothing good from this thing comes.

It's because this age is a key marketing demographic. They have some earning power but usually dont have kids or other bigger responsibilities.

Its worship in the sense that a hunter might worship the spirit of their prey.

> people will eventually realize is that living in the moment is healthier, more rewarding and authentic than doing things for the purpose of likes and attention.

I have nothing to back this up other than intuition, but I think this is a stretch. People love and live for attention and validation.

That's not to say the world wouldn't be a better place if more of us didn't give a shit about the 'gram or whatever. But it seems like people definitely do, and I don't think we can stop them.

Oh totally, it's a big bet that people will come around. Some trends that give me hope is the increased interest in meditation, yoga and the ideas becoming more 'mainstream' with people like Kanye and others talking about it. But still, it's like trying to compete with cocaine and a wild all nighter while you're selling a home cooked meal and a movie with a couple of your close friends that go home before midnight.

But I also don't think it has to be one or the other. Both can have their place.

“ it’s a big bet”-> is this different then a long shot?

Same thing? Long shot, hail mary, moonshot. All work :p

But are people getting the attention and validation the are seeking on Instagram? My impression is that attention tends to gravitate to a small subset of hot people on these platforms, which means that the average person gives more attention than they receive. In the long this is fairly frustrating.

Its the reason I use snapchat to the exclusion of almost every other form of social media. Not sure how many other people think this way though, whether it actually makes a difference.

This does not match with how I have seen friends using Snapchat - friends spending time focused on recording videos for Snapchat while with other friends instead of valuing the time with the friends they're with. I've experienced it first hand and it soured me pretty quickly on the platform.

This is not authentic communication to me, and I want no part of it.

So I think Snapchat provides the "moment" experience in 2 ways.

1. When you are with people, like at a concert, the spontaneous authenticity of the platform encourages you to just take a quick video or photo and then put the phone away so you don't get 'lost' in the app spending time adding filters, stickers, prettified text etc (ala Instagram, Snap also has these but feel more lightweight to me) and instead get back to the real life.

2. The people receiving these snaps get a more authentic version of you and your experience so are maybe more connected to your moment.

I agree with your point though that it can still be used in a way that is unauthentic and distracting from the moment (now instead of just living and experiencing whatever is happening I think 'oh I should share this on Snapchat') but I suppose why I like it vs other tools is that for me it encourages the more positive direction although not perfect.

i was at a concert last night with my 14 year old daughter... every kid had their phones out the entire time and was constantly snap chatting/IG story-ifying everything and there were spending more time trying to impress people that weren't there than they were actually spending time enjoying the show...

oh, snapchatting them smoking or vaping.. IG'ing the band. apparently its just cool to show how they're breaking the rules on snapchat and then bragging about being at a show on ig...

luckily my daughter just laughed it off... but she did IG a few songs so /shrug

> But what separates them, and what they think people will eventually realize is that living in the moment is healthier, more rewarding and authentic than doing things for the purpose of likes and attention.

People who realize this also realize that they can opt out of Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. If Snapchat wants to be viewed this way, sure, that is a noble goal and an interesting proposal for their brand. But it's still just that, a brand, and using any sort of device to record your life is a step in the wrong direction when talking about "living in the moment."

The moment doesn't need to be captured, not even on temporary social media that doesn't record likes.

heh, I agree with you. But baby steps :P

Plus also, friends and relationships are more and more spread out. Sharing your moments can help keep those alive.

Question for you though curious what you think: Does capturing the moment go against living in the moment because it takes you out of the moment for that brief period you capture it? Or just because it 'shouldn't be captured'? If you could share your moments remotely as seamlessly as they are 'shared' with the people right next to you is that ok?

Why can’t you just “capture the moment” using Instagram or your phones Camera app?

Capture the moment, and then share it when you’re out of the moment with the social network of your choice.

What does SNAP give you that makes capturing it using their app any more authentic or meaningful than the millions of other apps?

Different horses/ platforms for different courses. I use FB, Insta as a virtual blog of what's going/ went on in my life. I don't post every single thing, but upload stuff which stands out for me. I joined FB back in '04/05 in my college freshman year (christ, I am old!) and it's nice to scroll back and see how my friends and I evolved over the years. All those moments, dare I say, even silly pics/posts, are nice to go through sometimes. Same with Insta, but obviously, here it's all about just pics and focused comments on them from friends.

Snap is just for posting those "in the moment" stuff which I really don't care too much about documenting.

Anyways, that's the way I operate. Different for everyone.

You have a point but Snap took vc and went public at an enormous valuation. The only way they can support that valuation is through advertising.

kids use snapchat because parents aren't on it... and the stories go bye-bye without evidence of every dumb and silly thing they do on there. Moms posting on snapchat will probably chase the kids away... and what kid wants to see dog eared mom?

Kids use instagram because its cool to be popular there...

both support terrible social hierarchies that kind of suck the life out of people... now people do stupid things to get more views and they experience things just to IG or snap them - completely oblivious to being in the moment.

> So the path I see is them really focusing on authentic communication

That's a valiant and viable path, but it's not a path that fits their valuation.