In 2017, endless platforms of social media each possess its own unique appeal to the current community of youth. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter and Snapchat, it is almost impossible not to be attracted to one of the many social communities.

Between status updates and eternally refreshing feeds, there is always something new to look at. With a quick swipe of a finger, the latest news and personal updates from the people you follow appear right before your eyes. Today, millennials are faced with a fast-paced world that is ever changing and adapting. It is only right that the social media of the time be fitting to that same criteria.

With the multitude of social media platforms available for sharing, finding, and connecting with others, there is always the underlying question of why we as a generation are so drawn to these places. What is it about these applications that make teenagers so infatuated with our phones that we are unable to pay attention to the outside world for more than five minutes at a time?

When the image-messaging application Snapchat debuted in 2011, it was an instant hit. For the past five years, it has captured the attention of teenagers worldwide for its fast-paced, lighthearted qualities. Initially, I found the new gimmick to be meaningless and just another fad that would pass like every other new multimedia project.

For seven years, developers tried to come up with something as big as Instagram and hoped to make inroads in the specific application category and compete with giants such as Facebook or Twitter, but nothing really stuck.

While I stood on the sidelines avoiding the newest craze over the app, more and more of my peers began to talk about the new app and how they believed it to be so cool. Something about the feature of “disappearing pictures” excited its followers. When the addition of image filters of dogs, cats, flower crowns, and other comical facial alterations came along, the app grew even bigger and proved to be an unstoppable platform.

As the application grew in popularity among the community surrounding me, it also grew on me. With everyone around me falling in love with the new craze, it was hard for me not to jump on the bandwagon. I never had a real reason or inclination to join the Snap community, besides the fact that everyone else was doing it, but I did – and I’ve never looked back.