The ever-growing Snapchat app has had it's biggest year yet since it's initial release in 2011. Started by 3 former Stanford University students, Snapchat began as an app to share temporary selfies, with the idea that they would automatically disappear after they were opened. The app was received very well, even threatening other social media platforms that started copying some of the features of Snapchat. Now with over 150 million daily active users, Snapchat was one of the most popular apps of the year and this popularity won't be going away anytime soon. But with new features that allow you to save and re-share your photos, has the initial integrity of the app vanished?
The creators of the app expanded their original idea in the years following the initial release, adding 10-second videos that would also disappear by default and Stories that would be shared with all your friends for only 24 hours. The introduction of Streaks increased daily usage of the app as users were encouraged to send snaps at least once a day to maintain a Streak with their friends. Filters, masks, and geotags furthered the popularity of the app and took the internet by storm. If you haven't taken a selfie where you're vomiting a rainbow, have you really lived?
The new features of 2016 include ads between Stories, Group Chats, My Memories, Stickers, and a new Chat 2.0. Ads between Stories made the feature seem more like TV than a chat app and Group Chats took away the more personal side of sending selfies. The new Chat lets users save what they said earlier, making it easier to remember what you had said in a conversation, but at that point, why not just use good old-fashioned texting? You can now also save all your snaps to your camera roll with My Memories and re-use old snaps to upload existing pictures. Now sending a picture to a friend or posting to your story isn't as special, it can be used from anytime and taken by anyone.
Don't get me wrong, I love Snapchat as much as the next teenager, but I can honestly say the app has transformed a bit too much from its initial format. Every time I open the app, I feel bombarded by a Pinterest-style Discover page and roll my eyes at every ad that pops up between stories. Now with the introduction of Spectacles and an IPO on the agenda for 2017, it sounds like Snapchat is becoming too profit-focused and is continuing to drift away from its original integrity. It will be interesting to see what's in store for the app in 2017 but the dog filters and flower headbands definitely won't be disappearing from social media anytime soon.
