Hacker News Reader

Comment by doublerebel | Hacker News Reader

I'm in Seattle, so maybe I'm biased -- but many of my friends and I from 20s to 30s all enjoy Snapchat. The moments are real, time-limited, don't require a reply, aren't faked by filters, and aren't a popularity contest. That makes it a huge improvement over every other social network we use.

It's by far the easiest way to share a picture or moment with friends -- a photo is worth 1000 words and the location/time/velocity overlays add a lot of context. In many ways it's actually one of the most mature popular social networks -- it clearly learned from earlier social network attempts. I don't have to be "cool" to anyone but the relevant people to whom I send a snap.

It feels private enough -- hot girls like to use it and that will get anyone on any platform/club/bar/social location. Sorry to all of you who are using other slower, more ad-ridden networks and missing out.

View on HN

Maybe I'm living in a bubble, but since when has SMS been a painful experience for messaging? If I'm texting whoever, whenever, I can send a snap and I have the bonus of not having to take a picture for every text I send. Plus in the days of modern texting, I use Messages from my computer which makes life even more pleasant as at work I'm able to keep in touch with friends/family without even glancing at my phone. I never have to worry if they're on a network with SMS.

MMS for picture messaging:

* picture quality sucks

* not ephemeral

* requires multiple clicks (snapchat is just one button)

* difficult to BCC (snapchat sending is ALL bcc, which is awesome)

* doesn't work well from country to country (if at all -- but getting snaps from my international friends is really really cool and works the same as local)

* no easy way to send video

* expects a reply

* is awkward to send in the middle of the night (snapchat is 100% non-emergency and just flashes the notification light)

* can't be sure anyone ever got it (snapchat forces read receipts)

*... the list is long.

Also usually costs several orders of magnitude more than the data.

Half of those are not true on iOS

Does iOS lose MMS sent to "apostates" like it does for SMS?

That's because it isn't MMS. It's Apple's proprietary messaging system.

I don't use Snapchat a lot but the idea is that you can share a moment with the people you have on it without expecting an answer because it's showed if they checked it or not.

An sms/mms appear in the form of a chat and you are like compelled to answer, at least to tell them that you got it.

I assume you and you friends don't work for Microsoft, since Snapchat is the highest-profile absentee from Windows Phone :P

Contrary to popular belief Microsoft doesn't really care what phone you use. Nor does it care if you use an iPad or Mac at home. I'd wager most Microsoft employees use Android, with iOS as close second and WP as distant third. A lot less distant than in the rest of the world, but third nevertheless.

MS employee here. Most of the older employees use Windows phones and most younger employees use iPhones. I was honestly surprised how many people own Windows phones.

And no, bosses/execs don't care what phone you have.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com