Snapchat seems to have become one of the most important apps in the social market. The announcement of a recent drive for venture capital funding could make it the third-most valuable VC backed company in the world. The value of Snapchat is being driven by the users, and Business Insider surveyed some of them to see why millennials love Snapchat.
One of the big appeals for Snapchat users is the way they app deletes content. One users said:
I was drawn to the social engagement loop and ephemeral appeal of the network. I like a social network that treats content as disposable. Snapchat is in the head space of our generation.
Snapchat users also noted that the messaging service is often more personal than other social sites like Facebook, which makes them more inclined to share. According to another survey respondent:
Snapchat provides an easier answer to Facebook’s ‘What are you doing right now?’ I use it personally to stay in touch with friends and show people what I’m doing, but I’ve used it for just about everything.
Yet another stated:
Snapchat is a way of seeing the world through the eyes of other people that Facebook and Instagram just don’t offer, and I have no idea why that is.
One reason Snapchat users may feel different when using the service is because it doesn’t function as an archive, like other social sites. Facebook is especially archival, often functioning as a family photo album more than a \"social network.\" TechCrunch contributor Sarah Perez sees Snapchat as a response to Facebook’s ever shifting privacy policy.
She wrote:
It’s a reimagining of a social network for the generation who grew up chastised for over-sharing on Facebook and other social media platforms; for those who watched as Facebook shifted the ground underneath them, tricking users into public sharing with privacy policies that were moving targets.
Snapchat walks a fine line between intimacy and distance, because user posts can last no longer than 24 hours at the most. It doesn’t require users to polish themselves or their online personas, they can simply share pictures that give a short-term glimpse into their lives. And this is what has given the app its staying power and its value.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
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