So, what’s so good about Snapchat?

Joanne McQuilty2014

Presentation Layout

• Snapchat overview; significance & impact• Background of the technology• The research question• Literature review & theoretical framework• MethodologyQuestions are fine through the preso as we go

What is Snapchat?

• Images & video with text messages & drawings• Messages are viewed for 1-10 seconds then

deleted from user device & Snapchat server• Widespread uptake since November 2012

Snapchat is Significant

• 400m messages daily• 60m installs• 30m active users• 1.07m users in Australia• Users aged 13-24 years• Users young women/girls

Snapchat Impact

• The app is playing a decisive role in how younger generations are communicating

• Concerns over privacy & the quality of relationships from continued use of the app

Background to the Technology

• Cold War think tank RAND Corporation

• Network configurations neutralise the operation of power within systems of hierarchy

• Within a network every node has equal authority to originate, pass & receive data

• Obfuscates supporting structure

The Technology Today

• Smartphone technology developed out of internet protocols & utilise the same data cables

• These 3 data cables are what originally enabled fixed telephone communication

The Research Question

Q. What does Snapchat offer users that they cannot derive from the social world and how does Snapchat usage impact on user’s social relations?

Review of the Literature

• ICT’s, cross-disciplinary• SNS• Mobile phone communication• Mobile phone apps• Snapchat• UOW library Summons; media, books,

academic journals – humanistic approach

Sociological Theory

• Jean Francois Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (2004)

• C Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination (1959)• Anthony Giddens’ Transformation of Intimacy:

Sexuality, Love & Eroticism in Modern Societies• Zygmunt Bauman’s Thinking Sociologically – Ch. 5

‘Making It Happen: Gifts, Exchange and Intimacy in Relationships’ (2001)

Lyotard• Move from Newtonian based society to ‘a

pragmatics of language particles’, miniaturisation• Justice, scientific truth & salvation subsumed by

performance, efficiency & economy• Postmodern knowledge conditions sensitivities to

tolerate contingency & contradiction• Communication less about discussion and more

about comment

Mills

• Imagining the social• Private troubles & public issues• The capacity to range between the intimate &

the impersonal & to relate the two• Laboratory technique• When ordinary people explore issues they will

only encounter ‘contradictions’ & ‘antagonisms’

Giddens

• Introduces gender & feminine scripts• The Quest• The Romantic Love Complex• The Pure Relationship

Bauman

• Consumerism• The commodification of intimacy• Commodity forms like Snapchat fill an

emotional gap• The substitute only temporarily satisfied• Substitutes preclude permanent solution

Methodology

• Ethical considerations• Data collection, qualitative– Arrangement & structure (focus group & Q’s prior)– Questions to ask participants– Expected results

• Constraints & limitations• Data analysis

Ethics

• Under 18 years & school students• UOW Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)• Information sheets & consent forms• State Education Research Applications Process

(SERAP)• Australian Government’s National Statement on

Ethical Conduct in Human Research (NHMRC)• Working with Children Clearance (RTA)

Data Collection

• Questionnaire• Focus group – local high school• Roll call class – volunteer• 10 students, 10 questions, 30-60 mins.• In-depth plus group dynamic• Verbal & non-verbal data• Voice-recorded

Focus Group Questions

• Exploratory research, pilot• Use-value• Gender perceptions• Architecture of app’s design• Potential reach & privacy• When, who, alone/group• Investment in the app & f2f relations

Expected Results

• Users seek connection• Don’t feel connected in f2f

relations• Want constant connection• Don’t consider

architecture of app design• Don’t consider potential

audience• Users unsatisfied• Consider f2f as secondary

Research Limitations

• Only one school• Not representative• Doesn’t include older users 18-24 years• Open-ended & in-depth interviews would

reveal what Snapchat users think is relevant• The research was designed around my own

personal interests

Data Analysis

• Pseudonyms assigned during transcription• Content analysis by keywords• Interpretive• Intentions, focus, trends, attitudes & behaviour• Pauses, hesitation, silence, laughter• Questionnaire - SERAP

What We’ve Covered

• About Snapchat; statistics & issues• RAND Corporation & network configurations• The research question• The literature & theory• Methodology & the focus group• QUESTIONS?

References

References• Australian Government NHRMC, 2014, National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007 (Updated 2014), accessed

6/6/2014, http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/e72_national_statement_march_2014_140331.pdf

• Cowling, D 2013, Social Media Statistics Australia – November 2013, accessed 29/4/2014, http://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-november-2013/

• Dredge, S 2013, Snapchat may be valued at $4bn despite zero revenues so far, accessed 26/4/2014, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/oct/28/sapchat-funding-4bn-valuation

• NSW Government Education and Communities, 2013, Information Sheet for Applicants: How to Apply for a Working With Children Check Clearance, accessed 29/7/2014, https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/student_serv/child_protection/workd_child/Working-with-Children-Check-Appendix-4-Information-for-applicants.pdf

• NSW Government Education and Communities, 2014, State Education Research Applications Process, accessed 29/7/2014, https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/statistics-and-research/research-partnerships/schooling-research-priorities.pdf

• NewsPic, 2014, A Quick Look At Snapchat’s Demographics – It’s Users Are Mostly Young Women And Teen Girls, accessed 28/4/2014, http://www.newspic.info/usiness-insider/a-quick-look-at-snapchats-demographics-its-users-are-mostly-young-women-and-teen-girls/

• Ruggieri, M 2011, ‘ONLINE SECURITY: Teens’ privacy at greater risk: Parents, experts worry about long-term damage when smartphones, social media sites collect personal data’, The Atlanta Journal – Constitution [Atlanta, GA], 17 May, document 1

• Sterling, B 2006, A Short History of the Internet by Bruce Sterling, accessed 28/4/2014, http://sodacity.net/system/files/Bruce_Sterling_A_Short_Hitory_of_the_Internet.pdf

• University of Wollongong, 2014, Human Research Ethics, accessed 29/7/2014, http://www.uow.edu.au/research/ethics/human/index.html