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What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a social media platform and messenger app. While it is part of the social media genre it is nothing like Facebook or Twitter. To start, it only comes in app form and while it has text messaging capabilities, most people use the picture messaging feature. It is a messaging app that uses disappearing selfies and lenses of all kinds. The app does not store messaging data on your phone. Each snap that is sent from one to another is deleted after ten seconds of opening. If the receiver of the snap takes a screenshot, the sender is notified. Another interesting quality to the app is the ever-changing lenses to use with the selfie function. For example, a user can put a frog face on their own, open their mouth and the tongue will come out and catch a fly. There are themed lenses during times like the super bowl, Christmas and Presidents day. Overall it is a fun way to exchange silly selfies with friends and not worry about the content being out there forever.
How does Snapchat make money?
Snapchat has utilized the selfie interface to make money. As stated above lenses with different themes will appear in the selfie lens area. They sell the lens space to companies that want to advertise to the young millennial audience. They also make money from their Discover area; here companies can buy space where they create a snap story that acts as an advertising piece for users to look at.
Recent developments
Snapchat has recently rolled out a whole new design and new ways to get people using the app. They basically have rebuilt the program from the ground up. They wanted to refocus the app to get people sharing more snap stories and have built new algorithms that will adjust to each individual users needs.
They also recently released Lens Studio, software that developers can use to create augmented reality clips on their desktops. This allows people to use World Lenses and 3D objects, it is said that selfie lenses for Lens Studio should be coming out soon. This piece has not yet been monetized by the company.
Fun fact
First, the app was called Picaboo by creators Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown. They all met in college at Stanford University. Here, they worked on 34 different failing projects together until they finally produced this winner.
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