Marcus Smith
Lantern Staff
Snapchat, one of the most used and popular social media apps, recently updated their software, and users are not happy. Some say one of the biggest problems with the Snapchat update would be the disorganization of the new Home Page. This page recently had snapchats sent between users and their friends and now features stories on it as well.
“I don’t like it because the personal snapchats are mixed in with the stories,” freshman Connor Garcia said.
Snapchat has a reason for this disorganization.
“[It’s] based on who you keep in touch with the most and who’s contacted you most recently,” Snapchat said.
The Home Page is not the only thing that has changed. The Discovery Page used to feature friends’ stories on it, and users would have to swipe right to view public stories. The Discovery Page hosts public stories because friends’ stories are now mixed in with your snapchats.
The Camera Page is also different. If one clicks on the search bar at the top on this page, a user can see the story for his or her “current place” along with other local stories. Users can also get to Snap Maps this way, which used to only be accessible by swiping their fingers up and down. Snap Maps is a relatively new feature to Snapchat, allowing users to see their friends’ location through the app.
“It is very different,” sophomore Amanda Gusse said. “I don’t enjoy the change, but I guess I have to deal with it. I’m learning how to work around it.”
Another issue users are dealing with is accidentally sending a snapchat to the wrong person because of the disorganization of the new update.
“The new snapchat update is much different than what it was,” freshman Lauren Reischmann said. “I have to worry about stories for people I don’t talk to and accidentally send snaps to the wrong people. To correct this problem, I muted everyone besides my streaks.”
“Bitmoji Deluxe,” which was recently added, have been usable on Snapchat for a couple of years, but never quite like one can use them now. Users are now able to do more with their Bitmojis. There is now more options for their overall appearance such as more skin tones, hair colors, facial features and more. To make your Bitmoji look most like you, users can now take a selfie to inspire the look of your Bitmoji.
“As expected, it will take time for our community to get used to the changes, but overall we are pleased with the initial results,” Evan Spiegel, the Snapchat CEO, said.