When Snapchat first hit the app store, it was hard to predict that it would eventually become among the most ubiquitous social media forces. Something about eight second videos that vanish into the cosmos just resonates with people, apparently.
Sometimes, however, your snap game can grow stale. Motion sickness-inducing shots of you at a bar or the same old selfie can only entertain for so long.
With all that said, here’s some fresh ideas to shake up your Snapchat.
Be an artist
The painting feature on Snapchat is an underused feature. More than just a red arrow or circle to clarify an otherwise unclear picture, it’s an opportunity to show off your incredible artistic talent. Use the painting tool to create remarkable masterpieces that will wow your friends.
Beautiful picture, nonsense caption
Imagine a landscape of rolling hills against a sunset. Beautiful, and potentially snap-worthy – but it’s too easy. It’s trite. How about putting the caption “why do noses run but feet smell” against that lovely backdrop? Game changer.
Emojis. Everywhere.
You can put emojis in your snaps now. So put emojis everywhere. Poop on your friend’s head? A row of martinis at a bar? That ambiguous upside down smiley? The possibilities are so close to infinite it’s brain-melting.
Emojis.
Everywhere.
Do it.
Hilarious jokes
This one’s on you to figure out for yourself, but visual gags are among the funniest jokes around. They’re quick and clever, yet subtle. Worst comes to worst, just look up some and steal them. Your friends will never know.
Photos and screencaps
Some of the best, most captionable pictures are old-school paintings and pictures from old books. Flip through a book of paintings and see what ridiculousness you can uncover. There’s a lot of gorgeous Renaissance paintings that are just waiting to be turned into social media commentary on a disappointing new album or something.
Also totally viable are shots of cartoon movies where the character on screen is in the middle of making some big, exaggerated facial expression. Don’t be afraid to outsource your snaps.
Pets
If you own a pet and haven’t already sent out hundreds of snaps of it to your friends, you’re a rare specimen. While we applaud your restraint, maybe it’s time to just take pictures of your dog and send it to your friends all the time.
If you’ve already been doing this, time to experiment with the trope. Have you considered putting a poop emoji on its head?
Ugly face photos
This one’s fun because it takes the usual point of a selfie – using an unrealistically flattering angle and pose to convince people you are beautiful – and turns it on its head. By breaking down the traditional approach to the selfie by seeing who can get the most chins, you present a remarkable critique on a widely-accepted cultural norm. And we all know that nuanced social commentary was the natural endpoint of the social media movement.
Get with the times. Push the envelope. Put a poop emoji on society. It’s a nice change from the usual snapchat sex posts that you probably usually send.
Want to learn more? Check out this crazy video