Amidst the destruction that Hurricane Harvey left behind a couple of weeks ago, a new social media hero emerged — Snap Map. Users in disaster-hit areas used this feature to showcase relief efforts, highlight shelters, and most notably, bring an intimate, raw and human perspective to disaster. Shortly after, those in the path of Hurricane Irma, which has left a trail of destruction across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and much of the Caribbean, followed suit.
Positive vibes
When Snapchat introduced Snap Map in June this year, it was universally panned as a creepy, Orwellian feature. It enabled its users to display their exact location on a map to all their friends. Additionally, you could also upload geotagged ‘Stories’ — that is, photos and videos from your location — to a public stream that can be viewed by Snapchat users all around the world.
Although I’d downloaded and signed up for the app when it launched in 2012, I’ve only been a sporadic user. The ephemerality of its photo messages didn’t particularly appeal to my poor memory, although I have enjoyed watching Snapchat stories, and using their hilarious dog photo filters. However, once Instagram introduced its own knock-off version, I shifted loyalties entirely and ended up deleting the original from my phone.
Crunching numbers
After reading all the positive news about Snap Map, I took some time to fiddle with the feature to better understand how it worked, and to figure out how relevant it is in an Indian context. What I realised right off the bat was that the success of Maps depends entirely on its users, and the truth is, there just aren’t as many Snapchat users in our country, as there are in say, the United States, or even the United Arab Emirates, where there were a far greater number of stories that you could watch.
A look at the numbers explains why: according to a GlobalWebIndex research, in 2016, only 9% of Internet users in India had Snapchat, whereas 52% were on WhatsApp and 42% used Facebook Messenger. Compare this to USA, where the number is double — 18% of Internet users are on Snapchat (according to Omnicore Statistics). Research from Kantar shows that in the UAE, the market share for Snapchat and Instagram grew from 15% in 2014 to 53% in 2016, which is far ahead of the global average of 42% (in 2016).
Latest updates
Stories on Snap Map are arranged in order of newness, which means you will see the latest photos and videos first. This is quite significant in times of emergency, where already-resolved requests for help tend to get forwarded over and over, without any update on whether or not the person received help. I must point out though, that when this feature is switched on, the app drains your battery and consumes an enormous amount of data. Considering power and data signals are the first to fall when any disaster hits our country — be it in the urban or rural areas, even if Snap Map held its own in the first world, we would find it pretty useless if Mother Nature directs her fury towards us.
Does it have potential if you drop the disaster angle? It does, but as a tool for stalkers. India, in 2017 alone, has seen over a hundred reported cases of “jilted lovers” inflicting irreparable physical harm on the women who rejected them. Mainstream Indian cinema continues to champion stalking to be the most legitimate form of love, and the reactions to the recently proposed Marital Rape bill prove that the vast majority of Indian men are baffled by the idea of consent. Add this to the fact that Snapchat is used primarily by the 15 to 25 age group, and that it doesn’t take much effort to add someone as a friend, Snap Map becomes more than just creepy. It becomes dangerous.
Having said that, there is something rather intimate about watching people from across the world just going about their day. Sitting in Chennai, I saw snippets of a cricket match in Lahore, photos from a pomegranate festival in the UAE and sheep farms in Australia. I even watched videos of people gathering around the Kabba in Mecca. I was watching people I had no idea about, people from completely unfamiliar cultures, sharing their part of the planet with the rest of us. It was addictive, oddly mesmerising, and made me realise how similar we are in our differences. Perhaps our country needs Snap Map after all.