9781422277317

A ccording to linguistic experts, human communication first began about 500,000 years ago. Written symbols were developed about 30,000 years ago. While advance- ments were made over the following millennia, changes evolved at a glacial pace until the information age. Smartphones, the inter- net, SMS, cloud computing, and other developments have ushered in a new age of communication, where images and messages can be stored and retrieved forever. So, what place would a messaging service that self-deletes communications after 24 hours have in the modern era of unlimited data storage in the cloud? As it turns out, a major one—and it goes by the name of Snapchat. Snapchat is a messaging service that sends multimedia messages re- ferred to as “snaps.” While originally a text-only application, the platform ex- panded to image sharing in December 2012 and added functions as it explod- ed in popularity. The idea of a real-time, “in-the-moment” app brings a sense of immediacy that attracts millennials, who are the primary users of Snapchat. In the era of the 24-hour news cycle and constant availability of various forms of media, Snapchat arrived on the technological scene to fill one of the few remaining “holes.” Snapchat is groundbreaking technology because it takes something as old as humanity itself—communication—and moves it in a new direction. The very nature of Snapchat is at once both technologically advanced and sort of “backward.” It appeals to our deep desire to be in touch, to communicate, to share. Snapchat differs from other forms of social media in that its entire focus is on fleeting encounters, moments in time that rather than being captured for-

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