Snapchat is a mobile-only app available on both iOS and Android. The company Snap is headed by Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel. One of the core premises of Snapchat is to encourage a natural conversation like messaging service since most messages sent on the app disappear within a short time. At its core, Snapchat is primarily a photo messaging service. In order to use Snapchat, you will need a mobile device such as a tablet or mobile and an internet connection or cellular data. Snapchat is often cited as being one of the first mobile-focused social media since prior to it amassing the 293 million active daily users it has now, social media was primarily desktop based.
Originally, Snapchat was founded as an app for private, sender to sender video or photo messages. However, throughout the years since it was founded in 2011, countless updates have turned the app into much more than this. Snapchat now has a story feature where users can publicly post “Snaps” that last for 24 hours – these can either be broadcasted to just the user’s friends or for anyone to view. As well as this, in 2016 Snapchat introduced their infamous augmented reality filters where users can change their faces. One of the most famous ones being the dog filter. It also has a feature where you can store all your snaps called “Memories”. In addition to this, Snapchat also has a Discovery feature where users can view stories put up by companies like Refinery29, Daily Mail and Cosmopolitan as well as a Subscription feature where users can view the stories of influencers like Loren Gray and Kylie Jenner. Recently, Snapchat teamed up with Bitmoji so that users can create their own avatars which are displayed to their friends. Along with this, Snapchat also added a music feature where people can add music to go with the Snaps that they post.
Snapchat being very image-based means that it’s easy for the amateur to use. When you first open the app, you will be brought to the Snapchat camera – from here you can access the search function, where you can look for other accounts, the Snapchat filters and the memories section. On the left of the camera, you can access your personal chats as well as the Maps feature where you can see your friends and their whereabouts. Furthermore, on the right of the camera, you can access the stories and discovery section. Overall, the user interface is simple and relatively easy to understand after just a few uses.
Although expensive, Snapchat does offer a highly effective advertising feature for businesses. This form of advertising would be perfect for those wanting to reach an audience of younger people since 50% of Snapchat’s users are under the age of 25. Adverts on Snapchat will either be posted on the top of a person’s story feed or can be put in between stories whilst somebody is viewing them. Advertisers also have the choice to make long-form 10-minute video advertisements.
