Jul | 12 | 2007

To Snap Or Not To Snap

Posted by Benj as Opinion, Tips

Several months ago, someone figured that making small preview windows of outgoing links on your blog was a good idea. At face value, there seems to be some credence to the concept. With such an application, one can easily see what you’re about to visit! That’s a good thing, right? It’s no different from testing merchandise before buying it or getting a free taste before commiting to buying a slice of pie. And thus, Snap Preview Anywhere was born. After a while, it caught on, Wordpress even offered the service to their free blog subscribers.

Well, not quite. If you don’t have the luxury of time and you have to scoot after reading the next two sentences, the answer to the title is NO. Don’t. Never!

Unlike the examples of the product testing and free samples, the Snap Preview Anywhere hardly gives you an idea of what the website you’re about to visit is about. Since the display appears on a really small panel, any text that could’ve helped in explaining what the site was about will be rendered unreadable. You might get a vague picture of the header or other huge images at the top of the page, but that’s about it. Unless your idea of a preview is visual inspection of a page’s color scheme, SPA definitely doesn’t do much for you or your readers. I know much has been said and written about this application, but I’m still shocked at the amount of blogs who continue to use the plugin.

If it’s lack of benefits still doesn’t make you believe that it’s high time to disable your SPA options, there are plenty of other reasons why you should reconsider. The most irritating out of all drawbacks is how one can set off the SPA application without meaning to avail of it. Since all active links are subject to the effects of the program, any accidental hovering of the mouse over a link can result to a lag caused by SPA. Unless you habitually put your cursor outside the main browser’s display box, chances are, your cursor will be caught by a rogue link as you’re scrolling and soon after, you’ll be irked out of your wits.

Admittedly, it really seemed nice on the superficial level in the beginning. But upon closer inspection, it really seems like a nuisance as far convenience and functionality go. It’s time to put this to pasture, people!

One Response

Ed Sutherland
15|Jul|2007

I don’t use Snap, but I have seen it in action. Like anything, it can be misused to the point of becoming irritating. However, it does have its advantages when used judiciously.

For instance, I may not want to read a blog, but just one post. A Snap does a good job of showing text or providing an idea of a blog’s layout without clicking on a link.

Secondly, the preview can be expanded - there is a button in the upper-right.

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