I have heard people, time and time again, complain about how dumb streaks on Snapchat are, and I could not agree less. Snapstreaks are not ruining our ability to communicate with each other, but instead, as we get older, they are making communication with friends better than ever before.

What critics fail to understand is that Snapchat helps people communicate in such a significant way. There are people from high school that I keep streaks with during the year and people from college I keep streaks with during the summer. I simply do not have time to check in and text all my friends every day, much less every week. By using Snapchat and keeping streaks, I am able to get a little glimpse into their lives every day and it lets me know that my friend is still doing okay.

If on a given day, my friend sends me a Snapchat and they are crying or looking sad, it gives me the opportunity to ask what is wrong and try to help. If we did not have a streak, I would have no way of knowing how they are doing at all. Streaks give us the opportunity to understand each other better and communicate better.

As so many tweets point out, as adults, it is not necessary to talk every single day. You can go weeks without talking and still be okay when it comes to an end. Snapchat is not forcing you to talk to each person every day. Snapchat is giving its users a means to keep the connection between two people alive.

Sending a Snapchat each day to my friends is a way to keep our connection and remind them that I am still there for them and care because if I did not, I would not be making the effort to communicate in some short way. It makes it easier to reach out to someone you have not talked to in a month because you have still acknowledged their existence every day for any given number of days.

At this point, half of my streaks do not even have a fire emoji and number next to them. The people I have streaks with are just the people who send me a picture often enough to keep our connection, without having to be in constant 24/7 contact.

Snapchat streaks are improving the way we communicate with one another. They are not a stupid ploy to keep us using Snapchat every day. They are one of the best aspects of social media.