Snap Chat | Don't Blink

When I turned 25 a little over a year ago, I definitely felt some sadness about moving out of the 18-24 age demographic. It hit me kind of hard and sent the message that I needed to grow up. Although hard at first, now that I am 26 I have accepted that I am no longer in that group and I have moved on with a lifestyle that is appropriate for my age. However, because I work on a college campus and because I am very much immersed in social media, it is not hard for me to keep up with the newest trends that capture my former demographic.

Luckily for me, some of the newest trends to come out really don’t appeal to me at all…probably just more confirmation that I am getting old. In particular, over the past couple months three different fads have emerged at the forefront of the teenager to under 25 culture. For tonight’s post I want to give my brief and “sophisticated adult” take on these new trends.

Snap Chat – Snap chat is an app for iPhone users that lets you send pictures to other users. The catch is, the picture you send to another person can only be seen for a time period between 1-10 seconds. Once the time has ran out, the picture is “lost” forever. The short time period to view a picture along with the false security that the picture will self-destruct leads many to be a little looser when it comes to sending images. Of course I put quotation marks around the word lost because all it takes is someone to screenshot the image to forever capture it in their iPhone device.

I don’t particularly like Snap Chat. Yes I admit that I do “Snap” with a few people but I must say the app is pretty lame. For one thing, Snap Chat takes pictures of terrible quality. My old beat up handheld camera that I have dropped over 20 times takes better pictures than SC. For another, the ability and acceptance of taking irrelevant and uninteresting pictures reigns supreme on Snap Chat. I will open up the app and I will have 10 pictures from my brother detailing his television screen, water bottle, hat, golf clubs, and the living room carpet. I hate looking at that type of stuff. The labeling of pictures sucks too. Many people will use their fingers/thumbs to write out one word captions and it looks absolutely horrid.

Snap Chat is sloppy and cheap. In my advanced age, I would much rather have a service such as Instagram where I can add an artistic touch, take a high quality picture, and add all the hash tags I want.

Me getting ready to send a “Snap” out.

Duck Face – Take a quick stroll down your Facebook feed or Instagram stream and you are guaranteed to see multiple instances of girls posing with the now notorious “duck face.” You can make the face by putting your lips together and pushing them as far out as possible, thus making you resemble a duck.

I personally am yet to understand this one. I don’t know if the main objective is to look pouty, flirty, or just plain duck-like but I am not a fan. I find girls with smiles or neutral facial expressions much more attractive than a bird face. Perhaps the goal is to cover up less than stellar teeth or maybe it is to highlight above average lips or maybe it is to just follow a trend but I have a tough time seeing the redeeming value. I have also seen guys take on the less than flattering pose and let me tell you, it is not pretty. Some girls have the magical power to take something that is not hot and make it hot….us guys do not.

If you can pull it off or not, let’s just retire the duck face.

Me with the worst duck face ever!

Kendamas – I thought every kid and young adult wanted iPhones, game systems, GoPros, and other electronics as gifts. You mean to tell me that all what many people wanted this Christmas was a wooden toy?! This holiday season, many young people received kendamas. A kendama is a Japanese toy that tests one’s patience. Made out of wood, the trinket has a main body about eight inches in length. At the bottom of the body is a handle that you hold onto and then it thins out as you go up, forming into a spike at the very top. Jammed through the spike is another wooden structure with a cup on each side. Tied around the cup structure is a string that is connected to a ball. The object is to get the ball into either of the cups or to get the ball to rest perfectly on the spike (the ball has a small hole to allow for this).

I have not seen a more boring toy in a very long time. I don’t see how anyone could be entertained for more than five minutes with a kendama. I don’t see the real reward in making the ball in the cup and I definitely don’t see the reasoning for spending hours trying to do so. But you know what is more aggravating than playing with a kendama? Watching someone play with a kendama! Oh brother, I go absolutely nuts hearing someone clank that ball off the wood over and over and over and over. Some people get really involved and stumble all over the place, thinking it will help them catch it. Well, it doesn’t help at all but it is a great way to get in other people’s space and to break things. This Christmas we had someone over at our house who had just gotten a kendama and I was at wits’ end with the annoying noise, the ongoing shuffling throughout the living room, and the never ending “Will you please play with me.” I really never want to see another one of those things again.