A Guide to Snapchat for Tech Confused Adults

Snapchat, the hugely popular photo and video sharing app, is growing in subscribers by the day. What makes the app unique is the evanescence of its content; posts are as fleeting as the transient moment that’s been recorded. In this way, every brief creation encourages a kind of levity and lightheartedness, a candid instance in time soon to expire. But since then, it has grown to include more serious things, like live events and news, among its messaging and visual content exchange. Thinking of joining in on the action, but don’t know how or where to begin? We’ve provided a quick and easy guide for the least tech savvy of users.

Getting a Handle on the Basics

To be an active participant, you’ll want to capture and share various moments of your life. Even those that seem most trivial contribute to the app’s charming frivolity.

• Take a photo. Focus your Android on the object or scene of interest and click the circular button at the bottom center of the display screen. Note: the lightning bolt icon on the upper left allows you to set off the flash in darker settings. The camera icon on the upper right revolves the camera for an inward facing selfie.
• Make a video. Hold down the on-screen button as you capture your video.
• Customizing content. Once you have your photo or video, you can click the “T” icon to add text, then pinch to resize it, and toggle the color bar to change the text color. The pencil icon on the upper right is a drawing tool you can use. Finally, you can swipe to add filters.
• Save or Share. Once you’re happy with your finished product you can save your work to your photo library (by clicking the arrow icon at the bottom of the screen) or add it to your storyline feed (by clicking the square with a “+” icon).

Read More: What Information Does Facebook Collect About Its Users?

Using Pre-Existing Content

To add photos or videos already in your photo library, you’d have to use an intermediary application called SnapRoll.

• Find and download Snaproll from the Play Store.
• From the app, you can upload and edit footage from your library.
• Once your content is ready to post, click “Share.”
• A list of options will appear. Choose Snapchat as the destination to transfer your media to.

Remember: don’t be afraid to explore. Search for interesting content, and find and connect with friends using the messaging system and the comments function. Happy snapping!