Hacker News Reader

Comment by edpichler | Hacker News Reader

I really respect the Snapchat service, but the thing is that I don't like to create things that will disappear. If I want a thing to disappear I simply don't create it. I believe I am an exception, I see a lot of people that loves Snapchat because it erases things after a while. May I still don't have the problem Snapchat was created to solve.

View on HN

> If I want a thing to disappear I simply don't create it.

The point is that it mimics a natural conversation. Do you refuse to speak just because no one is recording you?

As someone who can relate to the parent post, I will admit that if no one is actively listening to me then I absolutely will not speak. But I'm on the quieter side of personalities and don't enjoy talking for the hell of it.

But there is someone listening on snapchat - the person on the other side still sees and hears it.

The conversation analogy that xux made seems perfectly reasonable to me in that regard. However, it is (depending on the user, I suppose) not super "real-time" the way conversations are.

But your friends still see your snaps and remember them. The database just forgets them very easily.

That's now what that person meant. The way I look at it, Snapchat is like conversations—you don't remember most of them. Does that mean you never talk unless you have some way of knowing you will remember them forever? That's basically what Snapchat is for (unless it is important, then you screenshot!).

With Snapchat you aren't "creating" anything, just having casual conversations.

I will admit to being one of the Snapchat non-getters, despite having tried to use it for over a month. (Maybe I don't have enough friends that actively use it?)

I will also admit that I was of the same opinion as GP comment. However, this analogy of yours just blew my mind -- I've never thought of it that way!

I signed up for Snapchat and didn't use it for an entire year. It just didn't make sense. The whole thing seemed pointless to me. Then it clicked. I'm not sure what it was, but once you have friends using Snapchat, it definitely becomes more enjoyable. If you don't know anyone with a Snapchat, Try following some celebrities first.

Same here, it's like a chat but with media: SNAPCHAT hehehe

People usually don't save chat log, or rewind it. Snapchat is the same, the proper name.

I was got me wondering why this company is success, what human need it solves, now things is getting a little more clear.

Damn, that's a good point.

I'll use this as my retort to anyone who says they don't want their content to disappear

And then they reveal they are in fact recording every moment of their lives with at least audio if not video too. Ideally also measuring the air to replicate smells later if desired.

If such was cheap and easy, I'd do it 24/7. I hate that my brain's storage is so volatile, and I wish I remembered dead people better. But yeah GP is still a good point, my desire is a separate issue from not wanting one's efforts to 'go to waste' by not being preserved. An honest introspection will reveal just how much is 'wasted' all the time from that point of view, it's far more than just ephemeral updates or unrecorded and unremembered speech.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entire_History_of_You

"Jealous people will always find ways to destroy their relationships without the recourse to memory databanks."

If people don't pay attention, they will forget, so I prefer to do not talk.

I got what you mean, and now I comprehend a little better what human need Snapchat is solving, thank you.

May I was seeing Snapchat as anything but not like a chat. This was why I didn't get it.

It's like a conversation, and it's pointless to use when no one is listening you.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com