Need To Boost Your Mood? Snapchat May Help

As all social media users know, it can be a pretty satisfying feeling when an Instagram picture you post gets a lot of likes, or a funny tweet gets favorited a bunch of times on Twitter. But as new research has just concluded, out of all the social networking outlets, Snapchat makes people happier than the rest.

A new study from the University of Michigan examined the way various social media apps affected the emotions of 154 college-aged participants throughout the day. They found that most of the participants seemed to be at their happiest while using Snapchat. (I know what you're thinking, and no, it's not because Snapchat is the purported land of dirty pictures).

According to the study's lead author, Joseph Bayer, the majority of people found Snapchat to be the most similar to having a face-to-face conversation, making it the most rewarding interaction. “On the surface, many people view Snapchat as the ‘sexting app,'" Bayer said in a statement. "But instead, we found that Snapchat is typically being used to communicate spontaneously with close friends in a new and often more enjoyable way."

Part of what makes it so enjoyable is that individuals usually use Snapchat to share random glimpses of their everyday lives. It's a more casual way of keeping in contact, as opposed to Facebook, which is more often used to broadcast big milestones and has been blamed for FOMO among its users.

"Since Facebook has become a space for sharing crafted big moments such as babies, graduations, and birthdays, Snapchat seems to provide users with a distinct space for sharing the small moments,” Bayer explained. "It’s easy to get caught up in Facebook-induced FOMO, but Snaps of 'mundane' things like sitting in the car (in Park, I hope) are more relatable, more likely to make you feel understood than make you feel alienated."

This probably sounds familiar to many of you — even those like me, who have barely dipped their toes in the Snapchat pool. While my Facebook newsfeed is full of wedding pictures and job updates, the Snapchats I've received so far (mostly from my younger, college-aged cousins) have consisted of close-ups of silly faces, food snaps, and once, that of a man dressed head-to-toe in a neon purple Lycra bodysuit. How can you not chuckle at that one? Not to mention, all of the funny new features Snapchat has been introducing lately (vomiting rainbows, anyone?) just adds to the fun.

So next time you want to boost your mood a little, snap away. You'll probably be smiling before you know it.

Image: Giphy