The bell rings, and students pour out of the doors. Immediately following are phones out of pockets and backpacks. Some wait for practice, some walk home, others hop in a car and get a ride. But they all have been waiting to do the same thing- check Snapchat stories.

The Glen Echo found that 62% of students prefer Snapchat over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, and Vine after conducting a poll in November. Inspired by prominent news sources such as The Wall Street Journal and CNN, who publish daily editions on Snapchat’s “Discover” feature, The Glen Echo wanted to bring its updates to Snapchat, as students are already racking up a lot of time there.

“I’m checking Snapchat essentially all day… I’d be checking [updates] five to ten minutes after they came up,” Jack Jensen (’16) said.

As an avid Snapchat user, Jensen said he would appreciate seeing scores of games that he might not be able to get to or seeing recaps of plays from games he wasn’t able to attend on his most used phone app. Since Jensen already uses Snapchat dutifully, it would be convenient for important and informative news stories to be merged with his other Snapchat friends’ stories.

The allure of Snapchat for many students is the fact that they feel incentivized to check for updates since posts expire after 24 hours.

“It kind of gives you pressure to go on because you know that the next day it’ll all be gone,” Lee Hasselmann (’17) said.

Already widespread and integrated into student’s lives, The Glen Echo decided that by using Snapchat’s popularity, they could more efficiently get the word out about upcoming events and awards. It would also allow students to enjoy pictures of Prom, the Fashion Show, the Pep rally, and other school related events.

“At least at the end of every school day, I think everybody goes and sees what’s on there. If The Glen Echo were to have [an account], I think everybody would see that,” Jensen said. The staff adviser decided joining Snapchat would inform our readers more efficiently than we have been able to in the past.

With people receiving updates, the Snapchat stories posted by the Glen Echo are also projected to boost story views on our website.

“If I was on Snapchat and I saw that a new article was coming up, I would definitely go and check it out on the Glen Echo, especially if it was something easy, like the front page article,” Jensen said.

While the use of Snapchat as a news outlet is novel to The Glen Echo, it is not new to People, ESPN, Daily Mail.

“I read Cosmopolitan on Snapchat every single day,” Alethea Jadick (’17) said.

Add us and check our story to see updates on sports scores, upcoming events, article previews, award announcements, and whatever else might be filling up our calendars.