Bayer, J. B., Ellison, N. B., Schoenebeck, S. Y.,

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Bayer, Ellison, Schoenebeck, and Falk’s (2016) article Sharing the small moments: ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat examines ephemeral social media which are platforms that share content for a limited amount of time, and how these platforms have become a popular medium within the “social ecosystem” (p. 956) and has become an attractive communication design and interface to social media more broadly. They do so by analyzing the most popular ephemeral mobile social media platform Snapchat. Bayer et al. attempt to understand the social and emotional experiences of using Snapchat as an ephemeral interaction on a mobile social media platform. The communication and interface design of Snapchat serves the needs of users due to the ephemeral interactions that are facilitated on the platform. The researchers attempt to further the current and evolving understanding of ephemeral social media and their role in building and maintain relationships. Bayer et al. found that Snapchats design creates a positive affect on the user’s experience due to the “face-to-face” experience replication through the platform for sharing experiences within close relationships, rather than as a platform the shares images and videos. Real-time and time-limited image and photo sharing is designed to create a different and more attractive experience to users.

Sharing the small moments: ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat argues that ephemeral social interaction is high in popularity in our current culture due to its unique structure for communication and interface design that offers new ways for users to communicate and socialize with others, gaining different functions. Bayer et. al state: “Overall, participants did not see the application as a platform for sharing or viewing photos; rather, Snapchat was viewed as a lightweight channel for sharing spontaneous experiences with trusted ties” (p. 956). The article outlines the increasing use of temporal affordances for users, where they see it as a completely different form of communication with different uses and gratifications. In the case of Snapchat, the social media platform is the first of its kind, where it simulates “real-time” sharing, which differs from more “permanent” social media platforms in sharing images and videos, therefore Snapchats communication design facilitates more relaxed, “spontaneous”, and lightweight interactions.

Bayer et al. draw on experience sampling data collected over a two week span to understand college students’ social and emotional experiences on Snapchat. The study drew upon experience sampling data (ESM) for their quantitative portion of the study (Study 1) through a questionnaire, followed by qualitative data collection through an in-depth interview process (Study 2). Study 1 included 154 participants from the University of Michigan in the United States who answered a quantitative portion of the study (Study 1) which included three part: an initial online baseline questionnaire, six daily smartphone surveys for 14 days and a final online endpoint questionnaire. A subsample of 28 participants were used for the second portion of the study (Study 2) to conduct over-the-phone interviews “to describe what social media sites they use, how they used them, with whom they interacted, and any emotions associated with their use. Questions about Snapchat use focused on who they sent snaps to, who they received them from, expectations of reciprocity, norms about what to share, and differences between Snapchat and other sites they used regularly (e.g. Facebook, Instagram)” (pp. 965-966). Through the use of experience sampling data (ESM) evaluated students’ recent social interactions, current mood, and recent interaction partners in relation to Snapchat for Study 1 and the themes and codes derived from the interviews for Study 2, Bayer et al. have expanded the existing literature and scholarship on Snapchats functionality as an ephemeral platform within their thorough research analysis of university students emotional and social experiences on the platform. The quantitative data demonstrated that Snapchat use and interactions were associated with a “better mood” and a more enjoyable experience over other communication technologies. It was also noted that Snapchat interactions were associated with “lower social support” than other communication technologies. The qualitative data highlighted the functionality of Snapchat use that facilitates a positive affect, “including sharing mundane experiences with close ties and reduced self-representational concerns” (p. 956). Participants also noted that Snapchat simulates face-to-face interactions, therefore attending to the content more closely than achieved content (such as Facebook, Instagram, or simply sending images and videos).

The weaknesses of the research begin with the explanatory studies applied to Snapchat use and the role of ephemeral social media positives are subject to a variety of limitations that should be considered for future research within this scholarship. The participants that were recruited were Facebook users, which may be bias to the information gathered from them in terms of their Snapchat use. In this light, the study may have been biased due to the fact that participants may be heavy social media users. Secondly, participants were selected from college students at a single university in the United States; therefore they may not represent all Snapchat users in terms of uses and gratifications from the platform, age, or education level. Another weakness in the research is the interview study had more female participants than males, therefore results may reflect female experiences of Snapchat. The research also lacks experimentally, where temporal affordances could have been experimented on with participants to understand direct changes on social interaction, rather than questioning users on their experiences. Further research is needed to understand the affects of “small moments” on Snapchat for users, as well as an in-depth analysis of which temporal features for the communication design of Snapchat that users utilize most and why.

A large strength in the research conducted by Bayer et al. is the combination of experience-sampling surveys in Study 1 and in-depth interviews in Study 2 that offers insight to the content being shared, how the shared content is perceived, and how these interactions may affect both social relationships and emotional experiences (p. 971). Having both quantitative and quantitative data effectively covers Snapchat experiences, covering the ground of both emotional affordances of time-limited image and video sharing, as well as the type of content that is shared in comparison to the content shared on other communication platforms, and the “here and now” of the context of sharing and experiences (e.g. Facebook, texting, Instagram, etc.,). The research constructively analyzed the ways in which Snapchat as a time-limited sharing social media platform provides different uses and gratifications for users based on the communication and interface design that reflects face-to-face, offline interactions within close relationships. The literature review of ephemeral social media and Snapchat provides a overview of the literature, and Bayer et al. fill the gap in scholarship in terms of the specificities of ephemeral social media practices on experiences and relationships for users, and the uses of the design of Snapchat in comparison to other communication technologies.

To conclude, Bayer et al. describe the increasing range of temporal affordances across multiple platforms, and question its role in social media ecology. With their research, results showed that Snapchat is associated with positive affects and less social support, and how practices in regards to ephemerality result in sharing “small moments” rather than “big moments” seen on other communication forums such as Facebook. The two studies provides great insight into Snapchat position in the social media ecology; “a light-weight channel for sharing spontaneous experiences with trusted ties” (p. 973).

-Alex Lapkowski

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