Forging Better Connections AND Why Hell Is Still Other People (Snapchat Edition)

Jean-Paul Sartre famously said, “Hell is other people.”

Sean Paul would later add, “Well I don’t really care what people say / I don’t really watch what dem waan do / Still I got to stick to my girls like glue.”

And such is life. Hell is other people. But we have to stick together, gender-neutral, “like glue.” 

Social media was supposed to do this. The jury isn’t out, but it would appear they’ve retired for the eternity. Of all the social commentators who could weigh in, the one I was least expecting was…

Snapchat. 

They actually had something really interesting to say on this topic (hold on to your skepticisms, read this quote):

Because ultimately, it’s surrounding ourselves with the people who matter most to us that makes us the most happy.  We all need more connection. We just need less social media to do it.

I’m not going to tell you they mean it. I’m not going to tell you they are or are not hypocrites. I am going to say – this is a truth. 

The people who matter most to us are the ones who make us most happy. 

Maybe not all the time because, there are quibbles, and personal growth, and life can just be cruel, but. 

The people who matter most to us are the ones who make us most happy, and without them, we’d be most sad. 

The quality of our connections to our people is everything. 

Finding ways to connect, beyond in “like” or a quick comment, matters. 

Making it accessible and easy enough so that we put the effort in – this is how we find our happy. 

I don’t know if Snapchat is the answer, but I’m happy somebody in this space is so publicly thinking about ways to ask this question.

ps. read “How Does Technology Rewire the Intricate Circuitry of the Teenage Brain” from 13D Research too. It’s related. And important. It’s also free/not behind the paywall on Epsilon Theory. Thanks Ben Hunt /Brent Donnelly for bringing this one to my attention.

Here’s the website, and then the obligatory Super Bowl ad and music video below: https://www.moresnapchat.com/