The generations that are raised by the Internet live in a world where technology is a part of their every day lives. Because of this, social media trends are always evolving and every few years a new platform comes out which is hyped up to be the next best thing.
Filmmaker Casey Neistat explores why millennials love Snapchat and what makes the app so successful. In his YouTube video "Snapchat Murders Facebook," Neistat says that Snapchat works because it is a mirror of our real lives. These snapshots and videos happen and are captured in the now, without (too many) filters.
People don't feel the pressure to be fake. It's real. It's viral.
These trends date back to Friendster, Neistat explains. His entertaining video includes a long metaphor and scenes from Breaking Bad, American Psycho and Kill Bill. Using the movies' scenes, the trend goes as following: Myspace took out Friendster, and then Facebook replaced Myspace. Instagram then showed up and became the most popular, and was bought out by Facebook for $1 billion. Facebook attempted to buy Snapchat for reportedly $3 billion. And Snapchat did not take the offer.
Neistat uses Walter White to represent Snapchat, the new gangster in town. The app, which allows friends to share photos that can only be seen for one to 10 seconds, first had a bad reputation. Known originally for sexting, the app is now worth $10 billion.
According to his interviews with fans of the iconic white ghost in New York City, Snapchat is the future of social media. The video features Jerome Jarre, "the King of Snapchat" who sends out a single update to gather dozens of people to come out to Union Square to talk about Snapchat.
"The question is, when do I not use Snapchat? It's breakfast, it's lunch," one teen girl said alongside four of her teen friends.
Neistat points to Stories, the public-facing part of Snapchat, for creating success among millennials. Compared to the updates on Facebook, Snapchat allows users to get to know people by seeing small parts of their lives. Watch the video below to see the evolution of social media unfold.
