You see the ‘timer’ emoji next to someone’s name and a wave
of panic washes over you, we have all been there.
We have the likes on Instagram, we have the views on your
‘story’, but the one metric that has trumped them all, something many teens
live and die by, is the streak. The Snapchat streak is a feature built into the
Snapchat app. The ‘fire’ emoji appears next to a friend’s name, meaning you and
that very special person have both managed to snap one another within 24 hours
for at least
three consecutive days. Perhaps your friendship is on fire.
Impressive, right?
I remember earning my first streak sometime mid-way last
year. I was late to the party, I know, but it is hard to ignore that as a
result of that streak, my use of Snapchat skyrocketed. Soon I wanted streaks
with all my friends. Now, I spend on average 1.8 hours on screen using Snapchat
on a 24 hours basis, which, for me, is shocking to say the least. I believe
that this dramatic increase in my use of Snapchat is majorly down to the
streaks feature. Streaks have only one purpose: to get you to use Snapchat
more.
Many people have adopted the view that their streak score is
cold hard evidence of unbreakable friendships. It is this mind-set that causes
streaks to become so addictive. People are afraid to lose their 200 day streak,
perhaps believing their friendship will suffer as a result and to be frank, no
one wants to lose what they have worked so long for. For many people, the
longer the streak, the better the friendship.
But have snap streaks become just another routine of daily life online?
Though there are those who keep up streaks to maintain
contact with a friend, ensuring a conversation is shared every day, there is a
large portion of Snapchat users for whom streaks have become almost like
business. We see this in those blank snaps, or those with an ‘S’ for streak
drawn in red, and it is usually in these transactions that communication is
almost non-existent but the streak continues to live, proving that numbers do
not correlate to the quality of a friendship in every case. Maintenance has become such an important
issue, that it isn’t unusual to see someone logging into their friends Snapchat
to keep their streaks going – for example if they are on a flight. You
eventually end up with people in charge of masses of streaks, all in the name
of friendship and popularity.
Despite my belief that the length of a streak does not
define the quality of a friendship, I will say that the streak feature is a
somewhat powerful force in developing some friendships. As you begin
to snap someone more and more each day, users usually find they are more
comfortable with that person. For example, someone I regularly snap, and might
even have a streak with, will receive far less polished selfies than perhaps
someone I do not snap as often. It is in this respect that the idea of a streak
can lead to certain barriers, in terms of appearance, to come down.
All in all, streaks are a pretty harmless thing and can be
fun to uphold, but when friendships suffer as a result of a streak
breaking, well, maybe that’s a problem.
Thank you for reading!
Aman