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Make it Snappy: How to Perfect Your Next Snapchat Selfie

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UFL chapter.

Some might say 2014 belongs to a certain little white ghost that has become one of our best friends but also one of our biggest enemies. Sure, we’ve all had those unfortunate mishaps of sending an embarrassing Snapchat of our double chin to the wrong person. But how would we ever survive without our most precious form of communication? Thankfully there’s no sign of our favorite little ghost slowing down in the near future. Thanks to a few new tricks, this app is now better than ever. If you haven’t already realized that Snapchat has made a few adjustments to spice up those weird late-night snaps, this guide will teach you to be a pro when it comes to all things Snapchat:

Settings: Now that Snapchat has stepped up its game, there are plenty of ways to impress your not-so-tech-savvy friends via Snapchat. Before the update, users were able to type in codes to change the filters on their pictures. Users are now able to activate these features by going to their settings. When you click the “manage” button and swipe all of the bars to green, you are enabling all of the new features. This gives you the ability to change filters, add the time or temperature, and even update your speed.

My Story: This feature allows you to post photos or videos to your own “stories” section for all of your Snapchat friends to view as many times as their little hearts desire in a 24-hour period. Though this isn’t very new, it has come to my attention that you can now directly view who has looked at your recent updates by clicking on the blue eyeball symbol. Creepy, right?

Text: Recent updates have made it possible to yell at friends on your pictures. What I really mean is that now it’s possible to type in large obnoxious text and emojis to get your point across. Another thing that many don’t know about is the option to write with white and black crayons. To unlock the white option, you must hold your finger down on the color palette and swipe to the top left-hand corner. To get the black crayon, swipe to the bottom left-hand corner.

Replay: This is basically like your “phone-a-friend” option. It gives you the ability to replay one Snapchat you received that day. My advice is to choose wisely. In order to replay a snap, you must first make sure your setting for replay is clicked on. When you finally make that nail-biting decision of which snap you are going to replay, go back to it and simply click replay.

Snap-Hack Pro: Can anyone say blackmail? We all get those Snapchats we desperately want to screenshot, but we don’t want our friend to know that we did. Snap-Hack is your solution to this common dilemma. You could say that this app is Snapchat’s evil twin brother because it gives you the option to save some truly embarrassing pictures right to your phone without them ever knowing. The only downfall to this is app is that it costs $2. It may be worth it to splurge on this one if you’re looking for a way to get back at mean ex-boyfriends.

Now that you’re a Snapchat guru, get out there, and send 10 times the amount of snaps you normally do. Happy Snapchatting! 

Sources: www.infospace.ischool.syr.edu www.techmarketingbuffalo.com

 

 

 

Nicole Germany is a senior at the University of Florida pursuing a degree in magazine journalism. She is currently on track to graduate fall of 2014 and hopes to land a dream job with a major magazine in New York City. Her current roles include writing for Her Campus at the University of Florida, the inspirational-fashion blog, Hello Perfect and is social media director for She's The First UF.Her previous work experience includes writing for the The Independent Florida Alligator and The Black Sheep Magazine. She also volunteered for Gainesville Fashion Week 2013 where she assisted designers by organizing clothes and other materials for the show.Nicole updates her blog weekly with different entertainment, lifestyle and DIY pieces. Her website also contains relevant online clips and short stories.http://nkgermany.wordpress.com  
Cara oversees Her Campus Media's community department and serves as strategic lead for the expansion, development and management of all HCM communities, including the Her Campus Chapter Network, InfluenceHer Collective, College Fashionista, Spoon University, Campus Trendsetters, alumni and high school. She works closely with company leadership to develop new community-related sales offerings and the Integrated Marketing team to support all community-focused client marketing programs from end to end. Cara has experience working with high-profile talent, such as Jessica Alba, Andrew Yang, Amber Tamblyn, Aja Naomi King, Troian Bellisario, Jessica Marie Garcia, Nico Tortorella, Nastia Liukin, Rebecca Minkoff, Cecile Richards and Samantha Power, as well as brands like Coca-Cola, L'Oréal Paris, The New York Times, HBO, Uber, H&M and more. Having been a part of the HC family since 2011, Cara served as Campus Correspondent of the HC chapter at the University of Florida where she studied journalism, women’s studies and leadership. A New Yorker turned Floridian, Cara has a Friends quote for any situation. You can usually find her with her friends and family at the beach, a concert or live sports event or binge-watching Grey's Anatomy or Sons of Anarchy. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @thecararose.