Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 1

Research Paper

Snapchat, a social network without networking

Turner Gold

COMM 410

Portland State University

 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 2

Image is everything, so they say, and this ideal has never been more prevalent than the

present; our ability to selectively share aspects of our life through social media has become

nearly ubiquitous among the populace. However, with this idea in place, a certain amount of

pressure is set upon users of social media to carefully cultivate and shape how they present

themselves in their online profile. With the ability of nearly anyone to scour everything youve

posted since signing up, users must, generally, be selective and conscious of what they post to

give off a positive impression. This practice, however, is rooted in two facets of design which

have becoming increasingly common. The first is a prevalence of failure to differentiate between

an emphasis on connecting with already established connections to further interpersonal

connections and one in which the focus is to connect with others via an impressive public

display. Secondly, the permanence that the majority of social media utilizes; with posts being

archives to a profile and being accessible far, far after the post date. However, there exists

another model that has been rising in popularity as of late: ephemeral media. In particular,

Snapchats popularization of the ephemeral media design coupled with its many other features

such as geotagging and lack of public display has radically changed the way in which we feel

we can present ourselves through social media. While it is by no means the first, nor will it likely

be the last, to utilize a more private, backdoor approach to social media and self-presentation, it

has become the first to reach popularity that can contend with giants such as Facebook and

Instagram. This is not a perfect design nor is it one which caters to the needs of every individual,

but many of the design aspects of Snapchat influence user ability to submit genuine displays of

self-presentation in a way which is not as influenced by social pressures. Other platforms would

benefit by considering Snapchats rapid success and, potentially, contemplating how some of its

design could be integrated into their own software.

 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 3

Social scientists and scholars have mused for decades as to why we, as a population, feel

so predisposed towards presenting a certain public faade when it can, in fact, be quite unrelated

to how someone exists in actuality. Enter Erving Goffman, who, over half a century ago,

presented his take on how we shape our public face; our publicly perceived image. He claims

that everyone is concerned, to some extent, with how others perceive them . . . this identity, or

public self-image, is what we project when we interact socially . . . to lose face is to publicly

suffer a diminished self-image (Goffman, 1959). This idea was originally extended towards the

prevalence and practice of manners in social settings with our innate desire being viewed by

the populace as being polite, so we would then act in very particular accepted ways in order to

further that idea. What Goffman likely did not predict was that his theory would so effectively

translate into the digital age with the norms and practices involved in self-presentation through

social media profiles.

Why this translates so well has to do with Goffmans focus on the public viewpoint,

which is a near mirror of the majority of social media design. Traditionally, this has been social

medias driving purpose; while private communication takes a backseat. Consider the largest

social media platforms and how they present information. Facebook, arguably one of the single

largest and most ubiquitous platforms, provides the user with an opportunity to make a publicly

accessible profile that contains their interests, photos, shared pieces of media, and much, much

more. While privacy controls can, of course, be tweaked, the majority of this information faces

the public and most interactions follow suit (for example, posting photos on a friends wall with

both users). Instagram has a near identical focus with an emphasis on photo sharing, providing a

carefully cultivated feed of photos that can be edited to perfection. Twitter, too, provides a

platform in which small textposts are shared and distributed with a wide range of potential
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 4

subjects and focuses. These are, generally speaking, some of the frontrunners for platforms that

come to mind when the topic of social media comes up, and all have a very forward, public

facing focus. While they all have options and channels for users to engage in backstage, private

messaging, that is not the focus of the platform. Instead, the design of these sites (Facebook

profile, Instagram feed, Twitter page, etc) encourage a carefully cultivated collection of

information since all of these posts will be accessible at any time.

This is no accidental result, rather, these platforms have specifically tailored their website

design so as to encourage their users to interact in a very public manner. This is what is known as

a design affordance, or the relationship between the properties of an object and the capabilities

of the agent that determine just how the object couple possibly be used (Norman, 2013).

Essentially, the idea is present that the design of a device, or in this case one of a social media

platform, can have a direct impact on how the user views the functionality of said platform.

When looking at social media giants as listed above, these design affordances are glaringly

obvious from the priorities given. Facebook affords that you post text or pictures on your wall,

Instagram suggests you place photos on your feed, and twitter recommends continual posts to a

wide variety of other people.

These affordances coupled with the public ability to retroactively view and interact with

these properties greatly contributes to the concepts brought in by Goffman. Whether or not we

are consciously perceiving them, the design choices made by developers on this platform heavily

shape our use and expectations of said platform. In the case of all the above examples their

design pushes the prospect of posting information in a manner that is accessible to a wider

audience for the foreseeable future. This promotes a certain expectation of cultivated expressions

rather than candor. While many of the actions one would perform on these websites are
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 5

seemingly interpersonal, such as posting to a friends wall, we are aware that it does not exist in

a vacuum. Your friends as well as their friends will likely view said photo, and there is no

particular mechanic to understand who will see it or how theyll interact. As such, users treat the

majority of interactions and procedures in a manner that is greatly in line with Goffman. To

avoid losing face, as he puts it, we carefully select our words and what we post; through channels

such as selecting only photos in which the two individuals look best rather than others which

may show different exchanges or actions. It has an outward facing effect which fails to act in a

vacuum, and the design of these platforms encourages this.

This theory of saving face extends even further with the specific affordances that the

majority of these platforms allow in regards to interaction with these posts, and the publicity

allocated to them. Facebook likes, comments, and reactions. Instagram comments and likes.

Twitter retweets and likes. Each and every one of these platforms has a design mechanic that

influences how individuals perceive the reaction and popularity of the content they provide. In

each of these instances, a quantitative system is in place which tallies up interactions which

amounts to a form of what could be considered a social currency. The more

likes/retweets/reactions one garners, the more intrinsically popular and well received the content

they are posting is supposedly received. This is furthered by the design by which this quantitative

data is all publicly available to be viewed by anyone at any time. This, too, lends itself to the

theory provided by Goffman in which individuals will attempt to save face in the public sphere.

In this instance, individuals will feel the need to carefully cultivate the content they produce so

as to procure the largest amount of this social currency of sorts. By doing so, it places a great

burden on the users and limits candor in terms of what they may want to post as it concedes to

what they feel will award them the most popularity.

 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 6

This prevalence of social media networking websites employing this very permeable and

transparent public sphere is no coincidence, and seems tied to how many social media

networking sites operate on a fundamental level. This is supported, supposedly, by the definition

of what social networking websites are defined as in accordance with a study proposed by Boyd

& Ellison. In their comprehensive literature review of how social media has come to dominate

the public sphere, theyve noted that public display of connections is a crucial component of

SNSs. The friends list contains links to each friends profile, enabling viewers to traverse the

network by clicking through the Friends list (Boyd, d. b. & Ellison, N. B, 2007). This, then,

promotes an extremely public facing model where the majority of interactions have to take place

on a level that can simultaneously foster familiarity and conversation between

acquaintances/friends while additionally allowing for traversing public spheres. But why has this

become so prevalent?

The drives a nail into a conceptual design that seems to continually plague a majority of

social platforms; as of late, the majority of platforms we use as social media seem to have

blurred or erased the line between social network sites and social networking sites. Those three

additional letters promote extraordinarily different experiences and focuses when creating

platform. As they put it, the two terms are often used interchangeably . . . networking

emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers . . . on many of the large [social

network sites], participants are not necessarily networking or looking to meet new people;

instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended

social network . . . we label these social network sites (Boyd, d. b. & Ellison, N. B, 2007). This

interchangeable use of the two terms has created a culture of hybridization within larger social

platforms like those mentioned of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Think back to the design
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 7

and affordances that have been covered. Within each of these lies the ability to create a semi-

public profile by which you cover, with varying degrees of detail, aspects of your personality and

relationships. Furthering this, users then interact with a variety of their acquaintances in order to

deepen already existing relationships and connect. This would, quite nicely, fit in with the

definition set for a social network site, where the primary goal being connections. However,

thanks to the affordances put in place by the designers, this does not ring true. Instead, the design

emphasizes a simultaneous push towards extending the users sphere of influence and

connectivity through connected friends list, public viewing, and much, much more. These

practices enforce a culture wherein persistent social media are more likely to lead to

experiences of context collapse, in which users find it challenging to decide what information to

disclose given their diverse online audiences (Bayer et al, 2015). This, to a degree, may trap the

user in a sort of limbo which directly inhibits their ability to engage in candor or true

presentation.

On one hand, users are encouraged and suggested through design to interact with

acquaintances and friends with varying levels of intimacy. These vary wildly from platform to

platform, such as Facebook encouraging posting photos and text on friends walls or Instagram

encouraging tagging friends in photos that either relate to or include them. However,

simultaneously, there exists the layer of social networking that is extremely prevalent. While

privacy settings can mitigate this to a degree, there is no denying that is extraordinarily

prevalent. The publicly accessible friends list on Facebook noted above along with many

interactions being publicly visible, Instagrams discover feature allowing for random profiles that

may interest you to pop up, and Twitters popularization of tagging. All of these inherently

influence the user to be very much aware that, even with some privacy settings, the design of the
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 8

platform is pushing for users who you may not know as viewing your profile. With Goffmans

face theory, this paints an unfortunate picture in terms of self-presentation. We inherently desire

to put forth a positive face into the public sphere, which users are now very much aware is

viewing their content whether they know it or not. The final nail in the coffin is the

aforementioned social currency factor of likes, retweets, etc. There is a numerical rating system

of sorts in place that will allow for judgement by individuals, even those who you may already

know. This all culminates in a bind for users in terms of genuine self-presentation. Genuine self-

presentation is sought and valued with connections, but is stifled by the need to put forth a

positive and face-saving public persona.

Despite this recent problematic development of social networks versus networking, one

of the most recent and prevalent platforms (in terms of growth and rising popularities) has

managed to avoid this pitfall of slipping between the two aspects of what a social platform can

become: Snapchat. A recent entry into the realm of heavily utilized social media, it has enjoyed

tremendous growth and use, especially with the younger crowd. One of many reasons for this

sudden surge in popularity is its departure from traditional conventions involving social media

and, inadvertently, its firm foothold in the realm of a social network without venturing too far in

to social networking. This is due to a multitude of its design features and affordances, such as its

natural design and signals, privacy controls, and use of an ephemeral, privatized design rather

than a permanent, outward facing one.

Before tackling the complex, yet simple design choices that enables Snapchat to operate

in this different fashion, exploration must be dulled out to Snapchat as a whole. What

overarching sense differentiates this platform from others, such as Facebook and Instagram, that

dominate the public sphere? Aptly put, Snapchat is not like film and video on Facebook . . .
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 9

Instagram, Twitter, etc, but concerns the nanoscale and the nanoterm (Ekman, U. 2015).

Snapchat, as a whole, differs from the prominent goal of social media giants that aim to create

content that stretches far and wide regarding subjects of the upmost importance and greatest

public appeal. Instead, it seeks the small things in life, the little interactions that influence us on a

daily basis. It concerns not seeing and being seen, liking and being liked by all the friends

in the world. . . rather, it is about affirming in a flash your existential co-orientation or becoming

closer with those closer or very close to you: snap visual media intimacy with those you wish to

be here now (Ekman, U. 2015). This distinction is incredibly important. The design and

mapping utilized by a large fraction of social platforms, whether it be intentional or not,

emphasize the important of the aforementioned social currency that they develop. Posts stop

being about interacting with contacts and become more along the lines of collecting social

currencies. Snapchat eliminates this feature all together; gone is any semblance of likes, retweets,

etc. Instead, the sole and primary focus on interaction is to build connections and interact with

contacts users have established previously rather than attempting to impress a perceived audience

that may be looking at the profile; further solidifying itself as a social network site rather than

one geared towards networking.

This choice of employing a design which eliminates the social currency aspect paired

with its ephemeral nature may, at first, seem counterintuitive to how users would prefer to use

their platforms. However, we as a whole are clearly in support and desire of these platforms for

sharing backdoor communication, as Ephemeral social media, platforms that display shared

content for a limited period of time, have become a prominent component of the social

ecosystem (Bayer et al, 2015). It is important to note that Snapchat is not the first, nor will it be

the last, platform which has chosen to utilize an ephemeral design. YikYik, Whisper, and many
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other platforms exist and utilize a similar core design choice. This notion of ephemerality is not

the key to creating a strongly interpersonally based, social network site. Rather, it is the

culmination of design choices, affordances, and feedback by which Snapchat has been able to

soar to such high levels of popularity and positivity in recent times. In fact, due to this

culmination, studies have shown that in many cases snapchat interactions were perceived as

more enjoyable and associated with more positive mood than other communication

technologies (i.e, calling, texting, emailing, Facebook) . . . snapchat use may facilitate positive

affect, including sharing mundane experiences with close ties and reduced self-presentation

concerns (Bayer et al, 2015). This reduced concern for self-presentation concerns is one of the

cornerstones as to why Snapchat has proven itself as an effective social network site. One of the

banes of social networking is an extreme awareness and concern for how the user may be

perceived by an unknown amount of entities, creating an extremely narrow venue as to what can

be perceived as an appropriate presentation of the self (including personality, interests, word

choice, etc). By limiting providing a strong platform for candor and health self-presentation, it

further contributes towards its status as a social network site rather than one preoccupied with

networking.

But how has snapchat managed to soar past its other competitors in the ephemeral media

field to enjoy the rampant popularity it has achieved today? In theory, an application which

centers its very design around the idea that all interactions and messages sent will eventually

disappear is quite prone to run into a myriad of different problems. This most of this has to do

with a series of design choices that, whether intentional or not, greatly promote its perceived

status as a tool to engage in candor displays of self-presentation and therefore engage in social

network activities. Much of this is owed to Snapchats prolific use of feedback systems, or the
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 11

communicating [of the] results of an action, a well-known concept from the science of control

and information theory (Norman, 2013). Most social platforms utilize this in one sense or

another, such as Facebooks use of notifications or audible pings when a successful action takes

place. However, Snapchat takes this system to a near ubiquitous level. Quite nearly every single

action that one does on snapchat has an immediate and noticeable feedback response that will

alert the user. Where it, to a degree, innovates is its staunch status that no action should happen

in a vacuum. While the typical feedback systems still remain in place, such as notifications when

a message arrives or confirmations that messages have sent, it provides visible feedback for the

actions of others, as well. Once a moment is shared, each and every contact that it is sent to

receives their own indicator which shows whether or not theyve opened it, at what time, and the

action they took afterwards. This, too, extends to when a user posts to their story, or a post

accessible to all of their friends and followers; all views are carefully catalogued in chronological

order. Mitigating privacy concerns, too, exists the feedback system to alert the user when a

contact has made a permanent copy (known as screenshotting). This allows for no action to occur

outside of the users awareness, mitigating some privacy concerns involved in knowing who has

seen and done what with their content.

Snapchat, too, makes excellent use of signifiers in its design. Quite simply, signifiers

signal things, in particular what actions are possible and how they should be done. Signifiers

must be perceivable, else they fail to function (Norman, 2013). The overwhelming majority of

actions one can take while using snapchat are accompanied by very direct signifiers. All

unopened interactions appear as a filled in square of various colors (red indicating a photo,

purple a video, and blue a text) accompanied by a text which reads tap to open appears. When

one then taps on this message as instructed, another signifier in the form of a timer appears in the
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 12

top-rightmost section of the shared content. Not only does this signify how much time is left for

the user to enjoy said content, but simultaneously reaffirms the affordances that this is temporary

content over and over. This extends beyond the messaging system and into the story system,

which also utilizes this pairing of signifiers and affordances.

Likely one of the most important aspects towards creating a solid backing in the creation

of a social network site is the privacy one feels they have on their profile. This is where the main

rift occurs between social network sites and social networking sites: one affords the creation of

content geared towards furthering deeper connections with already established contacts, and the

other that we put forward and public persona in line with Goffmans face theory that allows for

the maximization of a positive image. These two together create an extremely tight bind as to

what is perceived as acceptable to post under the brand the user is seeking to accomplish. It is

generally agreed upon that we need to consider what might need to be conveyed to users to

provide notice of what information is captured, where it is sent, and how it is used . . . probably

only a handful of deep experts would be able to piece together a full account (Nissembaum,

2011). While by no means a definitive squashing of privacy issues, Snapchat mitigates these

concerns exceptionally well. Even from a conceptual standpoint, the aforementioned repeated

signifiers and affordances repeatedly drill in the notion that this content is temporary. Unlike a

public Facebook profile, posts which are made on snapchat are done so under the express

knowledge that they are temporary and will not be accessible at a later time. This is particularly

relevant for the notion of self-presentation, as the knowledge of whether content will be

persistent may also influence what content people share in the present. Prior work suggests that

persistent and asynchronous computer-mediated communication platforms can make self-

presentational concerns more salient (Bayer et al, 2015). This is bolstered by Snapchats unique
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 13

feedback system by which users are informed when their content is recorded and who has chosen

to record it. In doing so, the user has a firm grasp of who is holding on to their content (and,

since a focus exists on strong interpersonal communication, possibly speak to that individual if

they dont wish for that content to be recorded).

An extension on privacy, too, exists in Snapchats use or, more specifically, lack of

mapping systems. Put simply, mapping is the concept in the design and layout of controls and

displays (Norman, 2013) which allows for specific navigation through the platform itself. One

of the plagues (or boons, depending on intention) to privacy is a publicly accessible and indexed

friends list. This is one of the major factors which contributes to the culture of insecurity in

regards to the audience which may be viewing your profile, since not every single interaction is

catalogued. In each of the major platforms that have been discussed, the users profile is publicly

accessible via a search through mutual friends list, group searches, interactions on other profiles,

etc etc. The user is afforded this information and is keenly aware that, despite their privacy

settings, there is a high chance others may be viewing their profile. This problem is minimized

heavily with snapchat. There is no publicly accessible list of contacts, and additions to a

collection of contacts must be done through a direct relinquishment of a snapcode (a username

needed to add one another with multidirectional required approval) or a registered phone

number. Even should a user slip through the cracks and follow another user without their

knowledge, no content would be able to be viewed since the user wouldnt be sending anything

to them, and viewing a snapstory will result in a log being created with their username. When the

user notices this, they can check out that profile and, if they dont recognize it, proceed to block

them.
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 14

This is not to infer, of course, that Snapchat is infallible in its maintaining of an isolated

chamber of privacy. No matter the platform, there exists the rightful suspicion and weariness of

what happens to content after it is posted. There is likely no tech system which will allow for a

perfect control over what others do with content, prompting the thought process that rationally,

individuals may realize that, although they have complete control on whether or not to post that

photo, once the information is posted, they will not be able to maintain control on who will

access it and how it will be used, no matter how granular the privacy settings provided by the

system (Brandimarte, 2010). This is the crux of social media as a whole in regards to true,

unmitigated self-presentation, Therein lies the inherent knowledge that no matter how secure or

powerful security systems, the possibility remains of content leaking elsewhere to unknown or

unwanted audiences. Even Snapchats very poignant system of notifying when another user has

made content permanent, it fails to be able to enforce it further should that individual then share

it with others. This is not so much a criticism of Snapchats steadfast grounding in the realm of

social network prioritization, but rather an admittance of the pitfalls that prevent true candor and

reflection.

What this analysis hopes to provide is a glimpse into how smart and innovative design

within social media platforms can further benefits involving user enjoyment, such as their ability

to engage in acts of truthful self-presentation without fear of design-based pitfalls. A large

percentage of mass scale social media platforms currently utilize design methods which align

them somewhere between the very differentiated social network sites and social networking

sites. While they still enjoy rampant success, with companies such as Facebook being near

ubiquitous in terms of its use, it still maintains certain design based problems discussed above.

Platforms may be able to further grow and benefit themselves by taking a hard introspective look
 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 15

at which line they would prefer to engage in; one which prioritizes connections between already

established friendships/acquaintances or one which helps users further propagate their sphere of

influence towards strangers. This is not to suggest that it is impossible to work towards bot ends

at the same time, but rather by doing so (potentially unintentionally) unnecessarily complicates

several design choices and may lead users to engage in unneeded steps to establish what sort of

presence they wish to maintain using this service. This can not only cause platforms grief in the

form of lost ad revenue should users become frustrated and cease utilization, but users may find

difficulty in adjusting to this as well. Up incoming social media platforms as well as already

established ones would do well to take a look at examples put which solidly plant them in one

realm or another and, potentially, evaluate how they might improve.

 Snapchat, a social network without networking Gold 16

Works Cited

Bayer, J. B., Ellison, N. B., Schoenebeck, S. Y., & Falk, E. B. (2015). Sharing the small

moments: ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat. Information, Communication &

Society, 122. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2015.1084349

Brandimarte, L., Acquisti, A., & Loewenstein, G. (2013). Misplaced confidences privacy and the

control paradox. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 340-347.

doi: 10.1177/1948550612455931

Boyd, d. b. & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship

Ekman, U. (2015), Complexity of the ephemeral snap video chats, Empedocles: European

Journal for the Philosophy of Communication 5: 1+2, pp. 97101, doi: 10.1386/ejpc.5.1-

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Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

Nissenbaum, H. (2011). A Contextual Approach to Privacy Online. Daedalus, 140 (4), 32-48.

doi: 10.1162/ DAED_a_0013

Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things. New York: Basic Books
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