Snapchat is a really powerful app, yet you’re probably still unaware of half of what it does. Most adults don’t even realise Snapchat art is a thing until they explore what the teens are up to, let alone simple things like geofilters and captions.
It really is a different world. And it’s a whole lot of fun.
It’s also one of the fastest-growing social networks, so it’s worth paying some attention to it.
For those of you who wonder “What on earth is the point of creating ephemeral content?”, I should explain that most of your social media content gets buried in the noise within hours, even it it’s still technically THERE. Sure, an avid searcher could find it. But for all intents and purposes, it’s gone from the public eye.
Besides, if you REALLY want your snaps to live on for eternity, there’s a trick for that. I’ll tell you how to do it later.
Besides, if you REALLY want your snaps to live on for eternity, there’s a trick for that. I’ll tell you how to do it later.
You Have a Snapchat URL
Snapchat were having so much fun with Snapcodes that they didn’t bother to give us our own URLs until quite recently. Use the format below to find your URL so you can add it to your website or Twitter bio.
https://www.snapchat.com/add/YOURNAME
It’s not much use to anyone unless they’re on a mobile device, but (let’s face it) most people are these days. And it saves them having to type your name or take a photo of your snapcode. Simples!
It’s not much use to anyone unless they’re on a mobile device, but (let’s face it) most people are these days. And it saves them having to type your name or take a photo of your snapcode. Simples!
There Are Snapchat Celebrity Directories
After years of having to ask around or trawl Twitter accounts to find your favourite celebrities on Snapchat, there are now directories springing up of the more famous users.
Snapchat.codes is one of the first directories, and it’s got popular users from all walks of life, including food bloggers, celebrities, comedians, artists and more. You’ll definitely find some interesting people to check out here.
If you’re browsing this site on a laptop, use your phone to add people. Just open Snapchat and point it towards the snapcode on the site. When you see the snapcode of the person you want to add, press and hold the screen. The option to add the person as a friend will pop up.
Switch Between Front and Rear Cameras While Filming
I’m sure the teens know this one all too well, but (accidents aside), most adults haven’t noticed this functionality is here. To swap cameras while filming all you need to do is double tap the screen.
Snapchatters Can Make $10,000 Per Snap
As is the norm on all social networks, certain popular account holders are making actual money from brands for engaging in a little bit of influencer marketing. Of course it all depends on who you are and what you’re known for, but it can happen
Graphic artist CyreneQ (a.k.a. Cyrene Quiamco) reportedly makes up to $10,000 per snap when she’s on the job — and she’s not even the highest paid Snapchatter out there. She’s worked for Groupon, Disney, Burger King and the recent Fantastic Four movie to drive a little bit of excitement towards their projects.
“For the Burger King [job], I asked the audience to imagine what their reaction would be if their best friend stole their last chicken fry and to snap me their reactions. For my celebrity interviews, I have people send in the questions for the interview. It makes the audience become part of the story, not just passive consumers.” — Cyrene Quiamco
Add a Frame With Letters
So, you probably know you can write on your snaps by clicking the “T” in the top-right corner of your screen. You can make the text a little larger by clicking the “T” again and again.
Now, the cute trick here is to make the letter so big that you’ve made a frame for your picture. So, O is the perfect circle border to your image, while N makes the top of a Triangle and A makes a full triangle.
Keep Your Best Friend’s Stories Up Top
So, you probably noticed that your friends’ Snapchat stories are sorted in alphabetical order after the “Recent Updates” section. Pretty standard stuff, so you probably just left it at that, right? Well, it can be tweaked a little. Not the list order itself, but where your contacts rank alphabetically.
In case you haven’t guessed it yet, the trick here is to add an “A – ” to the beginning of your contact’s name. So, if you have a small group of people who you really want up top all the time, add this to the start of their name and you’re set.
To do this, you need to swipe down the screen and go to your “My Friends” list, tap on the contact you want, click the gear icon and edit their name. Then you’re set.
Organize Your Snapchat Friends With Emoji
Following on from the tip above, you can use the same steps to edit your friends and group them with a common theme. To do this, emoji is your best friend. Just make sure you stick the emoji at the start of their name and they’ll all stay grouped together in the list.
For ideas, try grouping all your musicians with some musical notes, the comedians with a laughing smiley, food bloggers with a bowl of noodles, and celebrities with a star. Go nuts.
And while we’re talking about friends, you should also read up on how to hide people from your best friends list. Just in case.
Share Discover Stories
Here’s a tip that’s probably blindingly obvious to the under-30s, but still worth mentioning. When you’re watching a story from one of the big brands in Discover, you can actually send that on to a friend — and even add your own embellishments.
While you’re viewing the Discover story, press and hold the snap and it will open in a draft for you. From there you can edit and add filters as usual, then share away just like any other snap.
Save Your Stories
Okay, here’s the promised tip for the people who hate to let hard work vanish. If you don’t want your content to disappear completely after 24 hours, you don’t have to. It’s perfectly possible to save your story to your phone, where you can then upload it to YouTube or wherever else you like, just as you would for any other video.
To do this, swipe right to get to all of your friends’ stories. Your story should be at the top of the list with an obvious-looking download button. Once it’s saved to your phone, you can save it to wherever you want.
If you think you’re going to forget to do this, there’s a service you can use called My Snap Memories. Think of it as Katch.me for Snapchat. To use it, you need to be broadcasting your stories publicly, and to register at their website. Then each month you’ll be sent a personalized email with your stories ready to view, share and embed. The only catch is that you don’t get to keep the video.
It’s hosted by them and can’t be moved to YouTube or anywhere else. But it’s still embeddable and would certainly be a great backup option.
Similarly, the individual snaps you take can be saved too. Just use the download button in the bottom left of your screen.
And don’t forget, your snaps could easily be saved by your friends using various tricks. So, be careful.
Are You a Snapchat N00b?
Are you feeling like you know nothing about Snapchat after reading this? Or were you just happy to pick up a few new tricks?
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