Snapchat Updates: Pictures Last Longer With ‘Stories’; For How Long?

Snapchat is the complete opposite of Facebook. While it has garnered a massive following since its unveiling, photos are not kept. In fact, they are deleted. But with a new upgrade, it seems pictures stay alive for a bit longer.

According to creator and founder Evan Spiegel, "It's not about an accumulation of photos defining who you are. It's about instant expression and who you are right now." He said this in September when Snapchat unveiled a new product that promotes "instant expression" in an entirely new direction.

Snapchat now offers users an option to keep photos or videos a wee bit longer than a few seconds after it has been viewed. Snapchat "Stories" allows users to create a kind of narrative from a collection of messages, photos, and videos of their choosing from the past 24 hours.

Introducing Story Playlist https://t.co/AfAVI7crHa

— Snapchat (@Snapchat) October 7, 2016

These Snapchat "Stories" are kept for 24 hours and can be viewed over and over again for that period. After the 24-hour time limit expires, they are automatically deleted. Snapchat is always trying hard to come up with new and interesting ways for you to tell your own stories.

Snapchat was initially created because it seems posting photos or videos on Facebook is a bit overrated. Others feel that they don't want their lives to be an open book to the whole world. Instead, they just want their friends to know what they've been up to the last 24 hours. And let's face it, not everyone likes to see posts of someone waking up, having breakfast, working out, or cleaning your room right next to your posts of highlights in your life like that big promotion, or your graduation, or the day you get married.

Then entered Snapchat, a casual social media app. For those who are not "updated," Snapchat is a popular app for the most casual way of sending your photos or videos to individuals or groups of friends - casual because they are all automatically deleted just seconds after the recipients open it.

Now you can share certain minutiae of your life with a network of friends without worrying how it might look in the long run. It leaves no long-term image that could mistakenly describe you.

So how does a company like Snapchat make your story telling more interesting? They come up with something they like to call "Spectacles." A pair of colorful sunglasses with an onboard video camera that lets you record 10-second clips that you can post directly to Snapchat.

But don't get all excited just yet. These $130 eyewears can't be found in stores or online. Instead, you have to watch out for announcements when and where Snapchat's vending machines, called Snapbots, will next appear to dispense these nifty gadgets. The notice, however, only appears for 24 hours after which the vending machine is packed and disappears as fast as it appeared. Interesting, yes?