Keeping Up with the latest Pop Culture featuring Snapchat
Photo from Google Images.
In November 2012, Snapchat launched their application for iPhones which allowed users to post “Snapchat stories” and also message one another via chat, photos and videos. Throughout the years many changes and updates have been made to the application, most being minor. The difference between the "old" Snapchat and the "new" snapchat is shown in the photo below.
Photo of the "old" Snapchat vs. the "new" Snapchat, from Google Images.
On June 21, 2017, Snapchat added a feature called the “Snap Map” which allowed users to share their location with Snapchat friends, and to also view their friend’s locations. This caused controversy to many people as they did not like the idea of people, perhaps people they don’t know very well, knowing their current location, at all times.
Snapchat Snap Map.
You may not notice a significant difference, although frequent users of the application most definitely have. The most recent update to Snapchat included a change to the “discover” feature of the application. The discover page on Snapchat allows users to stay up-to-date with breaking news, sports games and the celebrity drama. Users are also able to watch live videos on the discover page of special events, like the Winter Olympics 2018.
With Snapchats latest update, the “discover page” now includes celebrities and public figures Snapchat stories on the page. Because of this, the public now has a closer look at celebrities’ lives and makes the public feel more connected to their lives. This allows the public to have direct access to the current pop culture, without having to input much effort at all.
For example, celebrity Kim Kardashian is often featured at the top of the discover page on Snapchat. She posts videos of her children, her “average day”, food she eats, and her beauty regimens. Many other celebrities appear on the discover page on a daily basis.
Kim Kardashian's Snapchat.
Although, beginning immediately after the update was released, the application received a lot of bad feedback. Many people complained about how the update was exactly the opposite of what Snapchat had intended it to be, “user friendly”. Users posted to media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and especially Twitter, complaining about the most recent update.
On February 17th, Manny MUA tweeted, “Im still in SHOCK snapchat hasn’t revesed its update yet…”
Image from Manny MUA's Twitter account.
Then, on February 20th, “The Independent” posted an article to Twitter with the caption, “Snapchat may be fixing its disastrous new update”. The article stated that, “The Snapchat app was recently treated to a major redesign, which has gone down badly with hundreds of thousands of users.”
Closely related, CNN Tech posted an article titled, “Snapchat stock loses $1.3 billion after Kylie Jenner tweet.” Jenner posted to Twitter informing her followers that she will no longer be using the application, as she is not happy about the new redesign of the app. As one of Snapchat’s most influencer users, this has hurt the app greatly. This is concerning for investors and marketers who had planned to see the applications profit continue to sky rocket as it has been for the past few years.
Image from Kylie Jenner's Twitter account.
On the positive side, Snapchat is a very useful digital marketing platform, as it reaches a large public. Also, the people who use snapchat, tend to check is fairly regularly. Photos, videos and messages can be easily shared to Snapchat as a means of receiving information. Snapchat also has a feature which allows you to view “local stories”, so for example if you are at school at Duquesne University, you are able to view stories of people around you, perhaps at the school basketball game or club meeting. Another benefit of Snapchat’s new update is the ability to advertise your business or product on the discover page. In between stories, advertisements come up every so often. This helps the business get brand recognition and also helps Snapchat to bring in revenue.
Even though there has been a great deal of negative feelings toward Snapchat recently, the application has drastically changed the game of interactive media. Can you imagine what Snapchat will be like in 5 years from now?
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/22/technology/snapchat-update-kylie-jenner/index.html