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It's hard to say when it became a daily habit. There were stops and starts. Days when I couldn't think of anything. But little by little, it became non-negotiable. Wake up. Please check the time. Send a snap. Every day for 2,450 consecutive days. I sent fleeting moments spanning almost seven years to a friend on the other side of the world.
Sarah has seen my sleepy eyes and the view of my dresser from my bed more than anyone else on earth. I don't know why I decided my Snapchat streak would be most important, but it became a priority in April 2017, almost four years after I downloaded the app and started using it haphazardly.
We are currently experiencing one of the longest snap streaks in the history of the app. Snapchat doesn't make that information public, so we don't know where they are on the ladder, but they recently ranked among the top 10 sites that collect that data.
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Guardian Australia political blogger Amy Lemeikis and her friend Sarah are on a road trip together.
Photo: Amy Lemeikis
Sarah and I met while teaching English in Korea. An American and an Australian, they were excited to be so far away from home. We forged a friendship over BBC's Pride and Prejudice and Korean sheet masks. Eventually, we both returned to real life, me in journalism, she in grad school, but we continued to communicate sporadically. Days, then weeks, then months passed before we spoke.
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She was severely affected by the coronavirus. She kept on ringing until she stood up and her words were breathtaking. She found medical help for her and I sent food and Amazon care packages to her home. This is America's online artery that connects us across closed borders. Her recovery from coronavirus was long and scary, and I woke up in a panic, but it wasn't until I saw her open the app that I felt relieved and went back to sleep.
When I recently asked her what this streak meant to her, she said, “Tangible proof that someone special is thinking of you at least once a day, even on your worst day.” “It's very reassuring to have that,” she said, and it's true. During some particularly difficult moments, that was the only voice I heard outside of my head.
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Source: www.theguardian.com
