More Snapchat secrets

I called out some Snapchat secrets back in October, but as the updates continue, there is always more to learn.

My general perspective on Snapchat stories is that they are not necessary. If I wanted you to see the Snapchat, I would send it to you directly. Since stories were rolled out later, most of my friends that post them downloaded the app after stories were released, so it's easy to tell who the "newbies" are. Plus, they just seem like a photo Facebook status.

While some friends were over for dinner the other night, we were group-Snapchatting some people that weren't there and complaining about stories. Much to my surprise (and scare), I learned that when you post a Snapchat story, you can see who looks at it! I thought this was creepy, because it's like getting a list of everyone who has "seen" your Facebook posts. In addition, I don't like push notifications and clutter, so I often clear out my Snapchat stories (regardless of who sent them) so they don't show up under recent updates. I'm not friends with anyone on Snapchat who I would actually be embarrassed in front of if they knew I watched their "stories," but still wasn't too keen on the concept.

I decided to "research" this firsthand by posting a story or two myself and see how exactly this works:

You click on your own name, see your score and 'best friends,' and then any stories you have posted with the number of eyeballs who have seen it. Then, click the story to see who has viewed.

Under the "story," which was about it being warm enough to bike outside, this is what appears when you click to see the list of everyone who saw it.

My original expectation was that maybe 10 people view these, but I quickly saw that many other people do what I do and clear them out. More than 60 people watched each Snap in 24 hours, which is the majority of my Snapchat contact list. It honestly was an irrational self-esteem boost to think that that many people cared about clicking on it, but placing myself in the situation...I don't always care about the ones I am passively 'watching.' I'm still curious behind the motivations to post a story, but now we all know about this list of those who viewed!