Is Snapchat Just as Addictive?

SOURCE: Cooking Channel

The economic principle I’m exploring is “Institutions are the ¨rules of the game¨ that influence choices.”
My research question to help me study the economic principle is “How does the social media site Instagram influence users to buy specific products?” 

The article published in LiveMint titled “Why is Snapchat so addictive?” demonstrates this economic principle by showing how the social media site Snapchat hooks users into using their app.

According to the article, snapchat may be the best form of communication for the new generation today, mostly because of its”brevity”. Because of the decreased attention spans amoung youth, the way snapchat is structered allows people to communicate quickly while still being entertained. J.J. Delacruz, a graduate student at Texas Tech University in the US, stated that, “People use Snapchat a lot because of its entertainment and functional needs." Another reason why snapchat’s “brevity” is appealing is because since the content disappears quickly, users are able to share their lives and “do not feel the pressure to present themselves in any extraordinary form—they can just be their normal, real self.” 

Speaking from my experience, I would have to agree with the information that I gathered above. Snapchat for me is my main form of communication with my friends. It’s quick, it’s more entertaining than texts, and it helps that most people now a days are on snapchat over any other social media anyways. Another thing that I think hooks people is being able to share and watch snapchat stories, which are quick, one minute videos or pictures that just show a glimpse of a moment that you have experienced. Again, I think because it’s only a quick snapshot and it does disappear after 24 hours, people stay entertained with it and don’t lose focus.

In my next blog post I will summarize my findings.