"Snapchat isn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moments; it’s about communicating with the full range of human emotions -- not only what appears to be pretty or perfect”. – Snapchat founders describing the platform back in 2011.
The idea of Snapchat is to save your moments and bring them to life by sharing them as your story. In the coming few weeks, we will be sharing weekly how-to articles and tips for using this social platform.
To become a snapper, first you will need to download the application on your smartphone and create an account, then you will need to share snaps.
Snaps are picture or video messages taken and shared with friends on Snapchat in real-time.
How to share a snap:
- Once you open Snapchat your camera will turn on, tap once on the capture button on the screen to snap a photo and to snap a video press and hold on the same capture button; maximum video length is 10 seconds.
- Change your snap theme by dragging your screen to the left or to the right.
- To write a caption just tap on the middle of the screen and start writing, and tap anywhere to finish.
- To set a time for your photo snap, tap on the timer icon in the left corner and select the time you want your followers to view your snap, you can choose between 1 to 10 seconds. For a video snap, duration is automatically based on its length.
- Apply lenses on your selfie snaps by opening the selfie camera then press and hold on your face, the lenses options will then appear on the screen, swap left or right to select the one you want to use and follow the action that appears on the screen such as “Open your mouth”. Tap the capture button to take a Snap, or press and hold to record a video with the lenses.
Note: this feature isn’t available on all the devices.
- Add stickers and or emojis to your Snap by tapping on the emoji icon on the top of the screen, tap on the sticker/emoji you want to add and it will be added to your snap, to delete it drag it to the trash icon.
- Now your snap is done, and it needs to be either sent to a friend or added to your story or both, press on the arrow to choose your next step.
- To view your friends’ snaps, simply go to the main screen, swipe to the left to view your friends snaps, and simply tap once on the snap to view it.
These are the basics of using Snapchat, start using it and let us know what you think.
To learn more about using Snapchat Stories, how to find out who viewed your snaps and more functions, read part 2: Snap chat from zero to hero | part 2.
AfnanRabaia
Community Manager and Translator
