The messaging app that has had a reputation, whether for better or worse, for appealing to our teens and tweens is headed towards a more adult audience. Not necessarily in content but with a renewed focus on ease of use and organization. A new memo from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel highlights some of the changes the company needs to make to the Snapchat App in order to stop losing so much money.
Since going public, Snap has been losing money at a rapid pace. This is both due to a major change in design within the app which lead to a somewhat mass exodus and competition from Instagram and Facebook. The most recent decisions at Snap have been a greater focus on how to make more funds and attract a greater number of users. This has led to an increase in advertising and changes to the look of that app in an effort to make it more user friendly. These changes seem to have backfired. This week, Spiegel’s memo is calling for a reinvention and a call back to “the core of what made Snapchat the fastest way to communicate.”
Back to Basics
The memo mentions a refocus on chat in Snapchat. Spiegel says that the redesign of Snapchat caused user’s friends to get lost in the shuffle of influencers, paid advertising, and possible new friends. The discover page became a mess of tabloid like clickbait titles and friend’s posts vying for attention. The changes were rolled out too fast with not enough testing and the response to user outcry was the typical, “you’ll get used to it” attitude that most social media companies have when they make a change. Spiegel wants Snap to lean towards helping people make meaningful connections beyond a snap streak.
Discover and Video Success
Snapchat is seeing great success in the amount of people who are watching videos in the app. Even original and exclusive content is seeing great growth in viewership and Snapchat wants to capitalize on that. The number of folks who read articles on Snapchat’s discover is also seeing growth. Many media outlets are using Discover as a way to reach younger readers and seeing great success.
Attracting Older Users
The problem with a user base made mostly of young people is that they don’t spend a lot of money in social media apps. Because of this Spiegel says that Snapchat is going to have to find a way to attract older users to their service. That is likely what the original (albeit unsuccessful) change of interface was all about. Spiegel mentions the need to age up their advertising, emphasize the ability to communicate efficiently and quickly in the app, and make the look of Snapchat more attractive to older users.
The memo mentions that older users see Snapchat as a “waste of time” or more for entertainment than serious communication. A focus on older users could lead younger ones to move on to something else. Spiegel and others who have invested in Snap may not care too much who uses their product as long as they start seeing the holes in the financial dam getting plugged.
What Parents Should Know
Snapchat is still one of the top social media apps for tweens and teenagers. It is also one of the most used apps for predators because of the disappearing messages. The focus on attracting older consumers is going to mix up the user base of the app to where you can pretty much guarantee your kids are on there with people much older than them. To be honest, however, the same can be said for any social media app.
Snapchat is on my uninstall list because of disappearing messaging as well as the discover page which is basically the tabloid magazine section at the grocery store. It features stories from sources like Seventeen magazine and Cosmo and often contain R rated material. Remember that social media apps are rated 17+, even though you can open an account at thirteen. The 13 years old number is a protection for the company because of how the government says they are supposed to handle user data of kids ages 12 and under. Any app store will give social media apps an adult rating. Yes, an app like snapchat that is known to attract kids and teens is rated for adults. That’s why parents have to be paying attention. Learn about the apps your kids use and what they are rated. Assume you’re the only one looking out for their safety online, well, besides this blog of course.