Snap Inc. has Gone too Far

After ending a brief but needed three week cleanse from social media a few days ago, I downloaded Snapchat back onto my phone. Happy to see the cute white ghost icon, cozy back in its little yellow box on my home screen, I launched the app to open snaps I missed from my friends and see what everyone was up to on "stories". After doing so, I swiped right to the camera to snap a photo of my small canine staring up at me with the cutest saucer eyes the world has ever seen, no exaggeration. Story worthy for sure, but the perfect puppy picture was interrupted by an accidental, inward pinch of my fingers.

What happened next was catastrophic and if you've seen the new Snapchat update I'm sure you understand. My reaction could not be more accurately depicted than by the expression of my Bitmoji in the photo above. I was shocked and after seeing my extremely surprised reaction to the horror that is "Snap Maps", my puppy was shocked too.

If you haven't updated yet, don't. Just kidding, but in all seriousness for those of you who aren't yet familiar, "Snap Maps" is essentially a function on Snapchat that displays a map with the location of all of your Snapchat friends who are choosing to share their location. Their location is indicated by where their Bitmoji is standing. It even knows if you are riding in a car and displays that on the map too.

I will admit that it is fun to update your social media friends and followers about the cool places you're at and see where they are and what they're doing on occasion. Let's be honest, who doesn't love to creep a little? I've made my opinion pretty clear already, but this has taken it too far. Even though sharing your location is optional and it only updates when the app is launched, it's just plain creepy. Team Snap describes the feature as, "a whole new way to explore the world! See what's happening, find your friends, and get inspired to go on an adventure," but what purpose does sharing your location with all of your Snapchat friends serve?

"Snap Maps" isn't all bad though. It also enables users to view recent snaps posted in certain areas and at certain events that you can view by location, but there are many other platforms that already offer similar ways to watch events live. Personally, I still do not feel highly inclined to use this new feature, but thanks anyway Snap Inc. for keeping me hyper-informed about my friends' lives and scaring my puppy.

Do you love or hate the update? Comment below!

See you next post,
Casey