“I use Snapchat for its convenience.”

This was a common answer when half of 50 surveyed students on Waynesburg University’s campus explained why they prefer to use Snapchat over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

28 percent of the surveyed students preferred Instagram, 12 percent preferred Facebook and only 10 percent preferred Twitter.

The other 50 percent said they used Snapchat more often, mainly because it was an easy option. On Snapchat, users don’t even need to include text with the pictures they send, so they can communicate in a quick and easy fashion. If they wish to include text, they have the option to use the application for texting as well.

One student said they think Snapchat is “much easier than opening up a texting app and typing out what you want to say.”

This trend isn’t limited to Waynesburg University, but is prevalent across the whole country as well.

In a 2018 survey of social media use in the United States, the Pew Research Center for Internet and Technology found that 78 percent of  adults ages 18-24 used Snapchat and 71 percent used Instagram.

Two Waynesburg students said they use Instagram more often than Snapchat because they enjoy scrolling down the screen to see what their friends are posting.

“I prefer using Instagram because it gives me a simple outlet to connect with friends of similar interest and makes it easy to see posts on a variety of topics,” sophomore Jacob Shaner said.

Dorissa Large, one of only six people who said they preferred Facebook, said she wishes other social media had the same way of keeping memories, like Facebook does with its “memory” feature.

“[I like] Facebook for the memories that I have from over the years I’m able to look back on,” Large said. “Most of my family, I’ve been able connect with [on Facebook], even if they live in other states.”

Large said Instagram is a close second for her, as it does a good job of “connecting with our generation.”

The students who said they liked to use Twitter more often said they mostly use it for news and updates, more than a way to connect with friends.