Snapchat could be best social tool: Study 

At a time when people struggle with a seemingly diminishing attention span, Snapchat could be the best form of communication but its overuse could make you addictive, researchers say.

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Snapchat:

• For certain people, Snapchat enables them to overcome communication apprehension by using a different means of communication where they do not have a threat in their face.
• At the same time, there are people who are addicted to it.
• For the study, researchers recruited students where students earn extra credit in certain classes for participating in online surveys.
• They also administered the survey to those who responded to requests through TechAnnounce.
• The official email announcement/communication method for Texas Tech University -totalling almost 500 students altogether.

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Survey:

• The survey asked students who use Snapchat about their reasons for using the medium, including needs and motivations.
• It also asked about general social media use motivations.
• Such as personality characteristics and what made them tend to gravitate toward Snapchat as a social medium.
• It also asked questions to help researchers analyse differences between males and females.
• The brevity of Snapchat posts was a key factor for two big reasons.
• One, people using Snapchat felt much more trustworthy with how they shared content with others.
• Two, because the content disappears quickly, users are able to share their lives.
• And don’t feel the pressure to present themselves in any extraordinary form — they can just be their normal, real self, researchers said.
• “They thought that was a good way to maintain ties with people they were already very close with, interpersonally,” Delacruz said.
• The researchers also mentioned that Snapchat can be a useful tool to help overcome apprehension about communicating on a public forum.
• It can also swing the other way and become addictive.

Read also:http://www.uttarpradesh.org/technology/twitter-bots-can-promote-good-behaviour-33022/

“Knowing their motivations would definitely help people who advise those with the addiction. It can help them have a better understanding of how to be confident and effective communicators,” the student added.