In sixth grade, all of my friends were creating their first Snapchat accounts. Meanwhile, my mom insisted I hold off until I turned at least 13. 

Now, I am 17 years old and have had my Snapchat account for about four years. I can say the popularity of the app has decreased significantly since my middle school days. I hardly post on my “My Story” anymore and I stick to only Snapchatting friends. I only still have the app so I am not completely out of the loop.

For teens like me, social media isn’t just about talking to our friends and seeing what they are posting. It is about finding a safe space to meet new people with similar interests as us. 

Apps like TikTok have been much more appealing to me than Snapchat. It’s funny, laidback and geared toward my interests. Snapchat sticks you in a little box called “My Friends” list.

On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to find people with your interests on Snapchat. You either need someone’s snap QR code or have their exact username. Snapchat only lets you interact with people in your general area. 

On other social media apps such as TikTok or Instagram, once you start typing a name in the search bar, a list of users will start appearing immediately. This makes it much easier to find people. The algorithms for these apps are also programmed to keep putting certain people and topics in your feed if you keep interacting with it.

Snapchat has honestly become a pain to use because it takes you minutes instead of seconds to find what you are looking for.

In the next five years, I don’t see much of a future for Snapchat. The generation it grew up with is slowly removing itself from the app. As the new age of social media is rising, the old age is dying.