I’ll be the first to admit I have an unhealthy addiction to all things social media. I tweet multiple times a day, comment on most status updates on Facebook and have a daily queue set up on Tumblr. I’m in the best mood when I gain points on Klout, but cry a little inside each time I lose a follower (even though I’m deviously planning how I’m going to win them back). But in the past year, I’ve noticed more and more developers are releasing apps to supplement other social media platforms.
I’ll be the first to admit I have an unhealthy addiction to all things social media. I tweet multiple times a day, comment on most status updates on Facebook and have a daily queue set up on Tumblr. I’m in the best mood when I gain points on Klout, but cry a little inside each time I lose a follower (even though I’m deviously planning how I’m going to win them back). But in the past year, I’ve noticed more and more developers are releasing apps to supplement other social media platforms. There comes a time when I just have to say, “Enough is enough.” Take the recently developed iPhone and Android app, SnapChat. Why on Earth would you need to communicate with your friends solely using pictures? If my best friend kept sending me pictures of her perfecting that stupid duck face or her sitting at her desk drinking Starbucks, I’d probably delete the app, or, on one of my bad days, drop her phone in water the next time I saw her (“accidentally,” of course). Usually the only conversations involving an exchange of photos in real time are ones that revolve around sex. And the critics are just buzzing about SnapChat’s uncanny ability to make that happen successfully and privately. In a TechCrunch interview last May, SnapChat creator Evan Spiegel said he didn’t design the app with sexting in mind. “I’m not convinced that the whole sexting thing is as big as the media makes it out to be,” he said. “I just don’t know people who do that. It doesn’t seem that fun when you can have real sex.” To be honest, who cares? It’s a completely unnecessary app. If people really want to sext, they can use iMessage, Skype, Kik, Facebook or any other platform that allows you to send photos, text and videos. Social media platforms were invented to make online socializing easier, so developing separate apps that only amplify a single part of the experience seems like a waste of time and money. And InstaMessage, a messaging app for Instagram users, could also be deemed unnecessary. Instagram already has a commenting option. Users could easily communicate through comments. If they wish further communicate more efficiently, they can use a multipurpose platform, such as Facebook, Kik, Skype or even text with iMessage. Instead of creating separate apps for this type of communication, why not just fully integrate it into the original platform? I’m sure individual developers could work something out with bigger social media moguls. Hopefully, that would eliminate some these mini supplemental apps from spamming the social media marketing realm. I’m really tired of seeing people write, “Hit me up on SnapChat!” Sorry, but you won’t be getting any snaps from me.
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