Are you on Snapchat?  In the past few years, Snapchat has become a fun and quick form of electronic communication that allows users to send timed pictures or videos to one another. These “snaps” can be set to appear on the receiver’s screen for 1-10 seconds and can contain text messages, visual effects, and more. If you’re not a part of the Snapchat family, or you’re just starting out, this post will provide you with instructions on how to use the app and discover what the rage is all about!

Getting Started

First, you’ll need to access your App or Google Play store to download the app. When inside the store, type “Snapchat” in the search function to find the app.

After you download the application, you’ll need to create a Snapchat account.

When you sign up for Snapchat, you’ll be asked to provide: an email address, a birthday, and then choose a username and password for your account. You’ll then be asked to verify that you’re a real person by providing your mobile phone number.

• an email address
• a birthday
• choose a username
• choose a password

You’ll then be asked to verify that you’re a real person by providing your mobile phone number.

Accessing Your Account

Main Screen

Jump to your main dashboard by tapping the ghost icon at the top of your camera screen. In this screen, you can view which Snapchat users have added you recently, add friends, and view your current friend list.

At the top of your main screen, you’ll see a symbol of a trophy. If you click on the trophy, you’ll find your TrophyCase, which is a collection of “achievements” that you’ve unlocked.

Each is represented by a different emoji. Tap each one to find out what you’ve done to earn it! If you’re just starting out, you may not have unlocked any of these just yet. The fun part about these achievements is that you don’t know what they are until you’ve unlocked them!

Settings

You can access your settings by clicking on the gear symbol at the top right corner of your main screen. Here, you can edit various user preferences.

Sending and Receiving Snaps

This is what Snapchat is all about!

Sending a snap

When you open the Snapchat app, you’ll automatically open the camera screen. Here, you can tap the middle button to take the photo. One some smart-phones, you can press the volume button on the side of your phone to take a picture. To turn your camera to selfie mode, tap on the camera icon in the top right corner of the screen. To turn the flash on and off, tap on the flash icon at the top left corner of the screen.

After you’ve taken the snap, tap anywhere on the screen to add text. You can also tap on the drawing icon in the top right corner of the screen to ad
d artwork to your picture. You can make the text larger by tapping on the “T” at the top of your screen. You can add large emojis to your message by tapping on the icon next to the “T.”

Your pictures you take through Snapchat do not automatically save to your photo library. To download a snap to your library, tap the downward arrow icon at the bottom of your screen.

You can set the time length of your snap by tapping the icon on the bottom left corner.

To send the picture, tap on the arrow at the bottom right corner of your screen. Then, you can select one or multiple friends to send your snap to. Tap the arrow again to send the snap.

If you’re not in a good spot to send a photo, you can also send a text message through Snapchat (you can do this by tapping their name in your friend’s list and choosing the text function or going to your feed and swiping left on their name).

Tips for Photo Effects

• Swipe any direction check out the effects that you can put on your snaps. You can make your picture black and white or labeled with temperatures, time of day, miles per hour, and more. You can even speed up or slow down videos with this function. There are even labels that are unique to certain areas that you can place on your photo!
• Before you take your selfie, tap on your face and hold. Snapchat will use facial recognition technology to do fun things to your selfies!

Receiving Snaps

 Enable Snapchat notifications on your mobile device to be alerted when your friends send you snaps. When you enter your camera screen, you’ll see a red box at the bottom left corner of your screen. Tap there to find out who has sent you a snap, and simply tap on their name to view their snap.

If you missed something in their snap, or didn’t pay attention, you can sometimes tap and hold their name to replay their snap.

There you have it, the basics of getting started on Snapchat.  Our next post will focus on “Snapchat Friendships.”

Let me know if you use Snapchat and what you think of it.