BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SNAPCHATTING

• Be prepared to understand nothing when you download the app. But don’t just give up yet. This is not Facebook, so there are no statuses. Snapchat is only about pictures and videos. 

 

• After you create an account, first add friends and build contacts. Snapchat will practically make no sense if you have few friends. But it is advisable not to add random people unless you want everyone to see your posts. 

 

• There are two ways to post pictures. Once you click a snap, you can add it to your ‘Story’ which can be viewed by all your friends. The other way is to click a picture and swipe left to add filters or effects. Tap on the picture to add a caption and set the view time (between 1 and 10 seconds) and select the sender from the friend list, just like you select a sender while sending an SMS. If you send a snap with a view time of 5 seconds, the viewer will get to see it only for 5 seconds before it vanishes. A post on your Snapchat Story stays for a maximum of 24 hours unless you want to delete it earlier. 

 

• If the time span was too less and you missed it, then fret not! Tap and hold the square box to replay the snap. But remember you can replay any snap only once, so pay attention. 

 

• The latest addition of 3D stickers makes Snapchat even cooler. If that’s too animated for you, play it down with stickers like ‘Fooooood’, ‘Monday Blues’, ‘No Chill’, ‘Feeling Sexy’ and ‘It’s Friday’. 

 

• Show off your artistic skills by drawing on the snap that you click. Using the pen on the right-hand top corner of the screen, you can doodle or write whatever you want to create a ‘Snapsterpiece’. 

 

• You can keep a tab on who has viewed your ‘Story’ by clicking on the arrow below it.

 

• Try unlocking the Trophy Case. You win a trophy if you send a video without audio, or if you send 50 snaps using black and white filter and so on. There are 23 trophies to unlock! 

 

• Wondering what the yellow, red and pink hearts and baby emoji appearing next to your contact mean? Yellow heart = Besties, red heart = BFF, two pink hearts = Super BFF. 

 

• A yellow heart appears next to your #1 best friend when both of you are each other’s besties for a week. If you continue to be #1 best friends for more than two weeks, the yellow heart turns red (BFF). When you have someone as your best friend for two months in a row, you have two pink hearts (Super BFF). The baby emoji appears next to a friend who you have just added on your Snapchat. To know more about the emojis, you can tap on Settings ----> Manage ---> Friends Emojis.

 

WHEN YOU’RE BORED... 

... DO NOT

• Snap videos that feature music. And with your finger on the camera. No, we can’t ‘feel’ the song like you do! 
• Post snap videos using the same filter. Especially the doggie one. Once a day is fine. Twice is bearable. The third time around, your friend might consider unfollowing you! 
• Treat your followers to a selfie spree. From the gym or the loo. Yes, we know you have some serious photogenic vibes, but no we don’t care about the barrage of selfies taken from the same angle. There’s Instagram and Facebook for that.
• Screenshot pictures. First, one gets to know. Second, they hate you for doing that. 
• Do the ‘I can’t sleep’ Snapstories. Maybe, just maybe, if you put down your phone you could! 
• Snapchat while driving.
• Post TMI (Too Much Info). No, we don’t want to know if you’ve just taken the best dump of your life. Ugh. 

 

BUT WHY NOT...

• Let out that candid (read: ugly) face. Yes, Snapchat has those pretty filters too, however there’s fun in letting your real self out. Especially when the timer is set to 2-3 seconds (lest you be screenshotted in making comic history). Go on, shock ’em all in your friend list! 
• Be up to no good with bae. We’re thinking ‘wicked’ snaps and videos. After all, wasn’t that why Snapchat was coded in the first place? *wink*
• Channel your inner Beyonce as you slay that song before your audience. 
• Turn yourself into Dragon Ball Z hero Goku or Princess Elsa from Frozen using the app colour pens.
• Show the world how cute your pets are by Snapshotting them dressed up, with you playing stylist. 
• Voice your opinion. Because no one will have proof later of what you say. Unless you are a certain comedian. *cough*
• Show off. Everything from the books you are reading to that perfect manicure. And that killer pose by the Lamborghini Gallardo you found parked. #SWAG 
• Be funny! The wackier the better. 

 

T2 TELLS YOU HOW TO... 

ADD MORE TEXT 

Want to quote lyrics on your Snapchat picture but the text field is too small? Go to the Notes app on your phone, select a few blank text spaces and paste it on your text field on Snapchat. Tra la! Now write as much as you want. 

USE TWO FILTERS AT THE SAME TIME 

Want to use the super clean filter that removes your acne, plus a geofilter that says ‘Kolkata’ and a filter that mentions the time of the day? Take a picture, add the first filter. Now press the picture with one finger and swipe the screen with another finger. Watch the other filters arrive. Stop where you want. 

ADD MORE LIGHT 

We all know that Snapchat has a night camera/low-light mode (for newbies, it is the crescent moon sign), but do you know that you can use the filter any time of the day? All you need to do is place your palm on top of the camera for a few seconds and see the low light emoji appear like magic! 

USE MORE COLOUR VIA EMOJIS

If your dil perpetually maange more than filters, try adding a tint of colour to your snap. Click on an emoji (say, the yellow heart), drag it to one corner and maximise the edge of the emoji till a film of colour covers the screen. 

USE SNAPCHAT FILTERS DIFFERENTLY 

Remember the filter that had blue butterflies? Instead of using the filter on your face, tilt it towards the sky and film it when you see the butterflies fly… making it look almost real!

 

CELEBS CRUSHING ON SNAPCHAT

OUR FAVE FILTERS 

FORAL WREATH:you might have sported floral headbands at music festivals but this filter with ready-made pink and white flowers makes you look pretty and oh-so-dreamy! 

DOGGY: love it or hate it, this filter is by far one of the most popular among celebs. sonakshi sinha, ariana grande, kim kardashian, victoria beckham... everyone is a fan. 

BEACH VIBES: palm leaves swaying, the splashing of water and a flower tucked behind your ear. this filter takes you right to the beach even if you are slogging at work! 

FACE SWAP: it’s hilarious. swap your face with your friend’s or with an inanimate thing, and go lol!

PRINCESS CROWN: the latest filter has a golden crown and tiny yellow stars falling on your head. the faded eye effect makes it fairy tale-like.

SAINT AND DEVIL: one moment you are the pretty-faced angel and in a jiffy, you are the devil with eyes on fire! tip: use it if you are really mad at someone. 

ALIEN: that filter which makes you look like et with big purple eyes and a tiny mouth. #socute

GHOST: the one where you open your mouth to become a ghost. one of the originals that freaked out kids! 

HUH, WTF? the one where your whole face is psychedelic art on loop.

SPIDEY: the three-eyed thing that has spiders crawling all around.

BARFING RAINBOWS: the one where you puke rainbows. who wouldn’t love that?!

 

WHY TEAM T2 LOVES SNAPCHAT

• Because Snapchat speaks through pictures and few words. Unlike Facebook where a status message becomes a speech! 
• Because Snapchat is personal. Unlike FB and Twitter, Snapchat can only have your closest friends. 
• Because our parents aren’t on it! Yet. 
• Because it takes the experience of shooting a video to a whole new level. Like making raindrops defy gravity. 
• Because the whole ‘timer’ thing is such a tease that it keeps you hooked. 
• Because it’s kind of safe. You know exactly who takes a screenshot or replays a post. [Btw, replaying is considered a big compliment in the Snapchat world!]
• Because... crazy filters! And 3D stickers.
• Because it brings fans closer to celebs. It’s as if you know them personally. In fact, they share stuff they’d never put up on Instagram or Twitter. 
• Because you can also stay updated with news from the ‘Discover’ section that has the likes of Daily Mail, People, National Geographic and Buzzfeed sharing stories. Live events update is also a big plus. You can watch moments from an IPL match or a Mount Everest expedition. 
• Because Snapchat keeps updating the app. Last year you couldn’t, but this year you can send videos from your gallery to a particular friend, video call and call using the app! So cool, no? 
• Because it keeps love alive. Hear it from Our Impossible Love author Durjoy Datta!