Launched on 8th July 2011, Snapchat gained popularity rapidly due to its unique feature of sharing 10-second pictures or videos and posting them for your friends to see; these were called 'stories'.
Source: BBC
This was a very unique app idea and hence gained lots of traction and maintained its status until August 2016 when Instagram released their very own story feature.
Snapchat saw a steady decline in active users and downloads after reports suggesting they rejected Facebook’s initial offer for a buyout; in return, Facebook launched the ‘story’ feature on their own and all their other owned platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
Source: Linkedin - @/SusanSerena
Snapchat’s stocks dipped from £25 in 2017 to £6 in 2018 right after Instagram’s implementation of the feature.
To recover from the decline, Snapchat started shifting their entire focus from stories to making Snapchat the go-to messaging site for teenagers and young adults. Now, they are looking to compete with the likes of WhatsApp and iMessage.
The message disappearing feature on Snapchat sets it apart from other messaging apps. If a user opened a message, it would vanish from the chat window unless they saved it, in which case it would remain visible to the other user but would be disclosed. Users of Snapchat were also notified if someone was screenshotting their chats.
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Haley Lyndes
According to reports, high school students sought to hide their tracks when their parents became more tech-savvy, and Snapchat's built-in deleting feature was perfect for the purpose. Due to its 90% download rate among 13 to 24-year-olds in the US, UK, and Netherlands, the app became a must-have for students beginning in the eighth grade.
According to teenagers, once you start messaging on Snapchat you can never go back to texting the old way.
Snapchat has also implemented monetary benefits for influencers using the app; the more they share and post, the more money they earn with ad revenues. This move snubs YouTube’s biggest influencers such as David Dobrik, who earns approximately $100,000 on some days according to sources.
Recently, Austin McBroom from the Ace family has abandoned his YouTube channel after his divorce with his wife Catherine McBroom. His main focus has been Snapchat at the moment, documenting his life after divorce.
Source: Her Campus
The content was evidently dramatised, with Austin often bursting into maniacal outbursts and performing random skits, clickbaiting fans into watching his videos. His earnings from Snapchat are not publicly known, but it is estimated that he is amongst the top earners on the app.
These kinds of clickbait materials have also contributed to Snapchat's growing user base as followers switch to other platforms when their favourite influencer does.
While it remains to be seen if Snapchat will continue to grow or finally come to an end, one thing is certain: for the time being, it is here to stay.
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