Among popular apps including Twitter and Instagram, UH joined students and faculty in the Snapchat community to promote prize giveaways, on-campus events and more. | Justin Tijerina/The Daily Cougar
Social media has “snapped” into the UH community.
Snapchat has become one of the most popular apps among the students and faculty. UH’s Snapchat handle, UHouston, has almost 700 followers, and it is mostly used to post pictures and videos of the college experience. Students like communication junior Alejandro Ochoa feel it’s helpful that the University is following the trend and is catching students’ attention.
“I think it’s a great idea for the University to use Snapchat to communicate with the students,” Ochoa said. “It’s one of the most popular apps among young people, and they use it on a daily basis.”
UH joined the trend in early January and has grown since then. Communications lecturer Mike Emery said in a UH news release that faculty and students on the social media team reach out to the followers for free T-shirt giveaways and other events. Mechanical engineering junior Emanuel Guillermo said he’s glad the University is picking up new ways to get in touch with the students.
“The University is open to the newer forms of social networking, and it’s an efficient way to quickly get a message out to a student,” Guillermo said.
Snapchat users can post their photos and videos, known as snaps, to the UHouston handle. While some think it’s a great way to connect to students and inform them what’s going on around campus, advertising student Bryan Salas said UH should stick to Facebook and Twitter.
“Snapchat is really used to fool around with friends, and I can’t picture the University effectively reaching students through the app,” Salas said.
Snapchat uses precautions for its users to determine who can receive snaps. The app’s privacy policy says that once the recipient views the media, it is not saved to the users phone. Although some social media platforms have been improperly used before, communication instructor Matt Bean believes the UH account is in good hands.
“I think the approach that UH is taking with Snapchat is the perfect way to use the service,” Bean said. “As long as the official UH Snapchat account is maintained by professional individuals, the benefits of instant social outreach far outweigh the minimal risk inherent in UH’s usage of the service.”
