Snapchat and its dangers.

Snapchat Logo
Source: http://www.blackpressusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/snapchat.jpg

I honestly can’t believe I haven’t made a blog post on Snapchat before. What a phenomenon! It has completely changed how people interact with each other.

Snapchat is basically a photo messaging app. Users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a list of contacts that you have added. These sent photographs and videos are known as “Snaps”. You are able to set a time limit for how long recipients can view your snaps. They last about 1 to 10 seconds after which they will be hidden from the recipient’s device and deleted from Snapchats servers forever unless they are screen shotted.

Snapchat enables users to send countless pictures of anything they want. There is now no more need to give a long winded explanation of that new top, dress, what you are doing, watching, eating, drinking. It’s simple – just send a snap!

Snapchat Idea
Source: Tumblr

 While Snapchat has mostly had positive effects it is known for promoting such trends as sexting. Sexting involves the exchange of explicit images that often contain some degree of nudity. Thus as a result, it has led to the sharing of pornographic material of adults as well as children with or without consent between minors.

Pre-teens by which I mean 12-16 year olds and people my own age will send ‘’nude selfies’’ to others which facilitates underage sexual activity. Also the ability for users to screenshot a snap has violated the terms of service of the material being forever deleted. A screenshot is an image taken by the mobile device user to record or take a picture of the visible items displayed on the screen.

Daily Mail Article; iPhone’s new app Snapchat which destroys photos after a few seconds is promoting sexting among teens by James Nye

This isn’t a very popular practice though according to the media. Snapchat has led to information being over shared but doesn’t every other communication app? It’s all an information overload in the end. It’s as if this technological era has removed the concept of privacy or censorship. And as the saying goes;

Knowledge isn’t power.

Tinder – The New Blind Date?

Link

I come from a culture where you met your significant other on a night out, friends of friends or through a blind date. I never thought the way people ‘hooked up’ would change. But thanks to tinder it seems to have had a dramatic effect upon it.

Tinder is a location based social discovery app that enables communication between mutually interested users. It is used for dating, hooking up or flanter (flirty banter). Tinder connects with your Facebook profile where it gathers your basic information and your social interests to match potential candidates who are most likely to have things in common. To complete your profile you choose five of your best photos and write a small description about yourself. Based on what information other users give Tinder generates potential candidates. The app then allows the user to anonymously like or pass them. If two users like each other then it results in a “match” and Tinder introduces the two users and opens a chat.

The chat box on Tinder has sparked a competition for the wittiest pick up line or opening statement to see if your ”match” will actually respond. There are even pages on Facebook dedicated to ”Tinder Banter”.

But I suppose this tinder banter has helped sparked many people to find dates!

Her.ie article about modern day dating in Ireland with Tinder.

While researching about Tinder I have noticed how powerful the effects new media has had on society. It has had such a negative impact upon how we interact and communicate. Society nowadays is nothing like society even ten years ago. Interaction is completely dehumanized now. Everyday common practices are reliant upon media services or apps. If society is to continue on this way of post post-modernity could we really be doomed for an apocalypse or a relapse back into nature?

Have teenagers lost basic communciation skills?

I am officially a ‘victim’ of media saturation. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. This weekend I had the unfortunate inconvenience of breaking my wonderful Smartphone. While it is being repaired I am forced to use a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. Now back in my pre-teen days these phones were of the highest calibre – a built in mp3 player! What more could I ever want or need?!

Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone
Source: http://www.photoxels.com

Well I was wrong. I didn’t need any more but I did want it. So I upgraded. I finally dipped my toe into the world of Android Smartphone’s and I have never looked back nor have I had to until now. My Sony Ericsson Walkman phone has no Wi-Fi. Therefore, I have no apps, no Facebook, no Snapchat, no Instagram, no Twitter, no Guess the Emoji, no nothing.

I have to admit it feels slightly like withdrawal symptoms not having immediate access to information. I feel separated from the world by not having the world’s knowledge at my fingertips. I am becoming annoyed with having to constantly re-start my laptop to just look up some mundane thing. But that’s what this media saturation has caused – a dependence on media and constant access to information.

I have noticed how dependant my friends and individuals around me are with their phones. Since I can’t browse through my phone I have become an observer. A conversation isn’t one on one anymore. It is a half effort while browsing Facebook. I now understand why my grandparents got so annoyed with me when I am on my phone while I’m talking to them. All the basic requirements of good communication are lost. There is,

• An obvious lack of eye contact
• Nodding occasionally to show you are listening
• Instead of nervous ticks such as, wringing your hands or picking your nails. There is a constant focus on your phone.

It’s extremely annoying when you’re talking and you know a person isn’t paying attention to you. I really wonder how this came to be the way and that I was okay with it before this. So I want to pose the question have teenagers lost the ability of basic communication?

If so, what does this mean for society’s behaviour? Will the ways of common courtesy and basic manners change? I value the ideals I was taught by my mother and grandparents but clearly I had forgotten them when I am exposed to media. I won’t lie I cannot wait to get my phone back but I will try to improve my usage and how I interact with people.

My new love – Guess The Emoji!

Guess The Emoji Logo
Source: http://www.mzstatic.com

I am ashamed to admit this but I have been swept up by a gaming craze and I just have to blog about it! Guess the Emoji is the app and I am obsessed! (I think it is mainly because I am good at it.) It appeals to my nerdy, bookworm, puzzle-loving side. And believe it or not it satisfies me in the same way a crossword does. Now don’t get me wrong it’s not of the same difficulty level, oh far from it but it is brilliant all the same.

Guess the emoji could be described as the ultimate technological guessing game. Maybe it could even rival the ‘’Eye Spy’’ of our time? It tests your logic and reasoning skills to solve emoji Puzzles. The game has very simple, clear graphics. The emojis used are common and well known on iPhones and some android models.  

It has a blank white screen where a selection of emojis are displayed. They have been grouped together in such a way to create a word or phrase. In a purple box underneath contain a series of letters that make up the said phrase or word are offered to you and you must try guess what these emojis are describing. There are many different levels with increasing degrees of difficulty. The game also offers tools that allow you to use up your coins to help you discover the word or phrase. They give you three options; 1. Expose a letter, 2. Remove letters, and 3. Solve this question. It also allows you to upload whichever one you are stuck on up to Facebook to receive help.

Graphics example and gameplay:

Guess the Emoji Gameplay and Graphics
Source: http://www.ggpht.com

I’m not as negative against this type of app game because in my opinion I feel like it is similar to brain training. I am really concentrating and thinking to get it right. Maybe that’s just me though. I know others are getting extremely frustrated at this game but I really enjoy cognitive skill games. I find this kind of genre of tactic and deduction a lot more appealing than Flappy Birds for example… All in all I would give 5/5 rating on this apps performance. Maybe I will be a hard-core gamer girl after all?

WhatsApp vs. Viber – Is there really competition?

For my blog this week I am going to talk about WhatsApp messenger and Viber. I have used these before and I have to admit I absolutely love them! I don’t know what I would have done without either of these while I was away on Erasmus. I couldn’t use them in Africa because well we barely had phones (ha-ha). These apps really help reduce geographical awareness about distance which really did suit me perfectly while travelling. I didn’t feel as detached from home compared to when I was in Africa.

These are instant messaging services available as apps only on your Smartphone’s or iPhones. These services enable you to instant message and to also send audio files, video files and pictures to people anywhere in the world. Viber also allows you to make phone calls but if this distance is very far the call quality is extremely poor and irritating. On the other hand, Viber is completely free so it is worth it for this service.

Example of Viber’s available tools and design:

Viber Display
Source: http://www.blogspot.com

In my personal opinion, I much prefer WhatsApp even though they charge an annual fee of €0.89c after a year’s free membership. The quality of service with regards to messages and media were sent is far superior (for me, personally).

Example of WhatsApp available tools and design:

WhatsApp Display
Source: http://www.androidappsforpcfree.com

The layouts of both of these instant messaging services are very clear and simple. WhatsApp uses green and white for their logo and colour scheme and Viber uses purple and white. The graphics used are very clean in design. In my Technical Writing lecture’s we learned about the aspects of good web design. Both of these apps follow the basis of good design because they are functional, efficient and well designed. These apps layout and content add to the functionality of the clean design. Such as, the colour choice which contrasts well against each other allows it to be legible. This allows each of these apps to be really easy to navigate about and use.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to both of these apps. Sadly it doesn’t allow you to have your number on multiple devices. Or even to have multiple numbers on one device. Being abroad I did have two numbers and I had to decide which one I wanted to use which was a bit of a nuisance since some people only had one or the other number.

Facebook has taken over WhatsApp recently so I’m hoping they will make some interesting changes for the better that I can blog about in the future! At the moment, there is competition between the two apps but what keeps Viber competitive is the fact that it offers calling services. If Facebook add this feature and more to WhatsApp I believe it could easily take the lead in this battle of instant messaging.