Snap school: University uses Snapchat to inform students of acceptance

By Saqib Shah December 2, 2016

script reduces school papework smartphone in classroom — Syda Productions

High school students across America are nervously awaiting their college acceptance letters at present. However, one university is taking an unorthodox approach to the process.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) is trying to reach students on an app young people know and love: Snapchat. It also makes the nerve-racking wait that bit shorter. After all, a snap arrives quicker than a letter.

“Students love Snapchat. The age group that we’re looking to really connect with, they’re on Snapchat all of the time,” Jena Richter Landers, UWGB social media specialist, told WBAY.

Aside from the immediacy, it also makes for a more interactive process, claims Landers. Students often reply with excited selfies of themselves after viewing the acceptance snap.

That’s not to say UWGB has ditched the traditional postal route. Students still receive admission packets in the mail, along with an email. But if they’re on Snapchat, chances are the app will be the first place they’ll find out the news.

Katie Vlachina, a UWGB student who helps the university send out its snaps, said: “They get really excited about that and it’s really cool.”

The university itself will know when someone views a snap, and if they’ve replayed or taken a screenshot.

With over 150 million daily active users, Snapchat is an app that has its loyal fanbase well and truly hooked. Millennials (those currently aged 16-35) make up its largest demographic, totaling 70 percent of its entire user base, according to data published by eMarkerter. Additionally, Snapchat claims that on average its users spend 25-30 minutes a day on its platform.

It’s safe to say that young people can’t get enough of Snapchat and, if more colleges end up adopting UWGB’s strategy, students will likely end up glued to the app for even longer in anticipation of that acceptance message.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…

Social Media

Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Computing

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Social Media

I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.