Snapchat's New Update: Hate It Or Love It?

Photo by Adham Elsharkawi

Snapchat came out with a new update on Wednesday and, if your Snapchat friends are anything like mine, it has already been overused and downright abused on basically every story that you have viewed since the drop.

Now I’m not going to sit here and act as though I’m not guilty of sending way too many snaps of my face with a rainbow pouring out of my mouth or hearts exploding from my eyes, but how many of those Snapchats can you send before you’re forced to admit to yourself, for the sake of your followers, that enough is enough? For those of you who live under a rock or miraculously refrained from downloading the addicting app or updating it, here is a little breakdown of the animation options and my reviews.

1. The Rainbow Vomit

This one is cute and fun if you get it to line up to your face perfectly, but if not, your face comes out grossly distorted and a rainbow is spewing from your eyeball or your nostrils, which is definitely not something you want to send out to anyone you’re not already on the hideous-Snapchat relationship level with. This one seems to be designed for I’m-bored-but-still-want-to-Snap-you type people because I don't think any legitimate Snapchat conversation warrants a response of vomiting a rainbow.

2. The Robotic Face

I don't really know what to say about this one. Is it reading your face? Are you a special agent trying to defuse a bomb? Either way, confusing blue controls and words are roaming around your face and crowd the picture completely, making it an annoying Snapchat to receive. Needless to say, I’m not a fan.

3. The Exploding Heart Eyes

This one is an animation that I actually don't hate. It’s simple and it’s not overwhelming. I also can’t complain about the flattering color filter that it gives you automatically. Well played, Snapchat.

4. The Crying Eyes

I would have to be a complete asshole to hate on this one, it’s just too adorable. The app makes your eyes look huge and innocent as tears stream down your face, which makes it perfect to send to someone who’s being an ass to you to instantly feel like a jerk.

5. The Creepy Mustache Face

I have absolutely nothing nice to say about this one… get rid of it, Snapchat. The eyes are instantly make you look like a lizard and the second you take the picture, the unnecessary gray skin color blurs out your nose completely. It’s not funny, cute, or scary, making it unflattering and completely useless.

6. The Fake Magazine Cover

This one was added later on, and I don’t really understand why considering it doesn't actually morph or enhance your face whatsoever. All it does is make it look like you’re shooting a fabulous magazine cover, so if your makeup is on point and you're really feeling yourself and think that others will too, then maybe consider using this one on your story. If not, this one is pretty irrelevant.

7. The Nostril Steam

This seems to be the replacement for the terrifying scream face that Satan himself must have been working at Snapchat to design. It’s much more low-key in that the sound is more of a dull roar as steam comes out of your nose whereas the scream face could make easily induce a heart attack… it doest help that the face morphs into something that would likely greet you at the gates of hell.

The animations are a fun way to liven up a dull Snapchat conversation or send a subliminal message, but they should be used sparingly or the fad will die just as fast as it bursted onto your timeline. As long as Snapchat keeps switching it up though, I don’t see people getting tired of this feature anytime soon. So if you haven’t already, you might as well embrace it.