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Snapchat's Rio Live Feature is Amazing or Annoying

by L. Turner

A social media feature special to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, Snapchat's Rio Live, was infuriating users of the service on Sunday. The feature appeared to document the snaps of a huge number of Rio-based users of the service and added the user "Rio Live" to Snapchatters' Recent Updates window. It was a great intro into what was happening on the ground in Rio at the dawn of the much-anticipated Germany-Argentina game. Still, it seemed to really confuse and aggravate a lot of users.

Snapchat often uses similar videos to commemorate users' birthdays as well as holidays and introductions of new features. But those are usually clearly marked as coming from Snapchat.

They were upset that the feature — clearly intended to be a cool, fun way to make Snapchatters feel like they were part of the excitement on Sunday — was intruding on their social media experience. Ugh, Snapchat! Stop tryna make me feel like I'm a part of something larger than myself!

Twitter exploded with enough rage that "Rio Live" began trending on Sunday as the game began. The only thing bigger than the World Cup? Social media rage, apparently. Here are the four types of "Rio Live" reactions:

1. Confusion

These users appeared to not understand why "Rio Live" showed up in their feeds in the first place. Common refrain: "I did not sign up for this!" Helpful tip for these people: Rio Live is not a person.

2. Anger

In this stage, users started to get a little upset about what they perceived as an intrusion into their social media lives.

3. More Anger

As the Snapchat got longer, users seemed to get increasingly frustrated, even making Spongebob allusions. That's #real, people.

4. Acceptance

Some users grudgingly began to open their hearts and allow Snapchat in or even defended Snapchat's move. Or, you know, deleted the story and forgot about it.

Image: Snapchat