Swipe and swipe again. Refresh feed and refresh again. Social networking and dating apps have hijacked the fingers, brains and evenings of teenagers. If that wasn’t enough, they now have to deal with the “half-swipe”.

If you are north of 25, Snapchat may not mean a lot to you, but the social media platform continues to score high among teenagers. It’s where the action is, especially because of the unique ways one can share moments with friends, including photos and videos that disappear after a set amount of time.

What’s half-swipe?

A lesser-known feature among casual Snapchat users is the ability to half-swipe. It’s helpful if you want to view content without informing the sender that you have seen it.

In simple words, half-swiping on Snapchat allows you to view a Snap without opening it. Usually, when you open a Snap, the sender gets notified that you have viewed it. By half-swiping, you can view the Snap but the sender remains in the dark.

How to half-swipe?

Find a new chat message, one that is unopened. Tap and hold on to the sender and then pull to the right. What you will see is a preview of the message sliding out from the left. Don’t take your finger off the screen because that will open the message, and the sender will be notified.

After you have read the Snap, move your finger back to the left while it is still touching the screen. It will close the chat preview and return to the main screen. The sender will not be notified that you viewed the Snap.

How do you know if it has been a success? You will still see a ‘New Chat’ notification beneath the sender’s name. It confirms you haven’t “officially” read that message.

If you go wrong with half-swiping, quickly close the app. It may just save you the embarrassment.

Can you screenshot while half-swiping?

You can, but the friend who sent you the message will be notified. They will receive a message stating that you have taken a screenshot of the chat, and the chat will appear with a screenshot message next to it in the chat tab.

Tough on teenagers

Remember the movie Sleepless in Seattle? If you do, Snapchat may not be your poison. The plot at least offers an understandable reference to how difficult dating can be. Sam Baldwin (played by Tom Hanks) is not ready to date since his wife died but when his son Jonah (played by Ross Malinger) encourages him to take the leap of faith, he took to the coolest gadget available back then — a business card holder. Ultimately, Annie (played by Meg Ryan) does her magic.

What we are trying to say is that dating is a job, and one has to keep on going to reach a happy ending. Teenagers can confuse limerence for love, but we all have been there.

Sending a Snap to someone you have a crush on is the new agony-ecstasy moment. When will the recipient check the snap?

Think of the situation in terms of WhatsApp. You are consumed by thoughts of someone, and in the middle of the night, you wonder why the other person’s “last seen” is still 18.32? Things get worse if your message was not seen and “last seen” is 23.33. Crestfallen? That’s the case with the “half-swipe”. WhatsApp users often catch a glimpse of the message in the notification centre and then choose to ignore it. Things get worse when a message sender is left on read, that is, “message received and read but to hell with you”.

Love is not always love, yet teenagers often find it difficult to understand it. Limerence, which is a state of mind resulting from romantic feelings for a person, can be worse than a heartache. It can impact someone’s daily life and function.

Ultimately, life will “happen” and priorities will shift. All those “half-swiped” messages will feel like a bad dream. But why make someone suffer? Read the message, reply and move on.

Deal with the‘half-swipe’

• Butterflies in your stomach when your Snap is not read? It’s normal to feel that way but as George Harrison sang, all things must pass.

• Know how to end it. If your Snap goes unread continuously, give the “relationship” a hard look.

• Boost your confidence and handle rejections. Try shifting your focus when Snaps are not checked. Life must go on.

• Remember, dating needs to be fun. It’s about meeting different people and figuring out what makes you tick.