I’m out dancing with my girlfriends; we’re laughing with our eyes closed enjoying the music when I right my head, open my eyes and see a cute guy — shoot — we’re making eye contact. 

Pretty soon, his group of friends is approaching mine. We’re still making eye contact but it’s totally flirty now. Then, we’re just regular flirting and his thumb clicks on his phone. He looks down at it before looking back at me and asking, “Can I get your Snap?”

Snapchat, the social media platform known colloquially as Snap, is kind of a giant bother. When I was in middle school and it was becoming big, yeah, I was totally into the filters and sending pictures to my friends. 

But when a guy asks for my Snap? It’s an immediate brownie points dock. 

For starters, I hate the app. I still use Snap, I have to — between the active group chats and major life updates communicated through private stories, I’d be missing out on a ton of crucial social interactions with my peers if I didn’t. 

But, the reason Snapchat is so useful is also kind of a burden. Knowing what my peers are doing constantly, especially when I was younger and more self conscious of my social calendar, can lead to a lot of FOMO. Ergo, I do not want to communicate through Snaps.

It’s more than my general distaste towards Snapchat, though. When a guy asks for my number, it feels like there’s more intention there. He’s going to text me asking me on a date, not send a picture of him smirking. It’s so much more mature. 

There’s also something sexier about asking for someone’s number than their Snap. Watch any great rom-com, nobody is being asked for their Snaps. Sure, most of them came out before Snapchat existed, but that doesn’t change the fact that babes throughout history have been asked for their numbers. It just sounds right. 

I don’t often feel this way, but when it comes down to it, between asking for numbers and Snaps, I really think we need to stay in the past. Communication back then seemed more down to earth and romantic. I want to be lying on my bed twirling my landline cord while speaking to a boy I’m into, like a person; not sending selfies back and forth like robots. 

That might be a little extreme. I don’t need to be called to be asked out or whatever — plain old text messages are vintage enough. Just please, if you see me out with my girlfriends and want to make a move on me, don’t ask for my Snap. 

Sylvie Slotkin is a Medill sophomore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.