If you don't know what Snapchat is, you most likely live under a rock. Snapchat was introduced to the social media world in 2011 but only seemed to blow up a year or two ago. But by now most of us have all seen the girls posting their dog selfies (which I’m guilty of) or the multiple food pictures a day. Snapchat is a way to message images. The pictures or videos are short lived and self-deleted.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel has even said "Snapchat isn't about capturing the traditional Kodak moment. It's about communicating with the full range of human emotion—not just what appears to be pretty or perfect." Which obviously appeals to the younger generations saying that 86 percent of the users are younger than 34. But more importantly, Snapchat has been a way for networks to advertise and put content out. Which includes Snapchat subscriptions.
June 7th, 2016, is when the actual subscriptions were introduced to the users. At first, I think all users thought it was cool to see what was going on around the world. It would show the current trends, which celebrity was hooking up with who, and weather disasters going on to name a few. It was almost an informational section and stories that others went through. The Snapchat creators then changed it to the “discover” section. The discover page features a headline and an image that is catchy and makes you want to open and view it.
Come July 2016, it has seemed as if the entire subscription section of Snapchat has changed. It went from being a carefree and informative section to a section that was only appealing to Democrats, Liberals and Hillary lovers. CNN being a top publisher for the company, Snapchat was pulling a political agenda but in an interactive app form. It had geotags about how Trump was a “con artist” and filters saying “vote liberal” or the best one “I’d share a cab with Hillary.” It was a way to filter in those liberal votes and influence the generation that uses it. The Huffington post had even had an article that featured how favored former secretary of state Hillary Clinton was compared to Senator Bernie Sanders.
The subscription section on Snapchat as it is today, January 20th, which happens to be the inauguration of Donald Trump, is full of negative commentary and no outlet that reports for conservative news. You see more about the Obama’s leaving than information of this huge day for the United States. Even as the day had gone on their was more information and interviews with the protesters than there had been about the inauguration itself. When you display this type of content what do you think defiant Americans are going to do? They see the media attention they get, so obviously they are going to do exact what bring them their ten seconds of fame.
I understand that Snapchat is using the subscriptions as a way to make money. I honestly think it's a smart tactic too, but they should display all content. I see what they are doing and trying to appeal to the users who are younger since most of the younger generations are liberals. But not everyone is a liberal, so make it fair or don't do it at all.
As a younger conservative, seeing all the different sections of liberal media is so disheartening. It makes you think twice about the side you've chosen and why you think the way that you do.
In my opinion, Snapchat is an influencer. They are the new age newspaper that's in a conventional app we use every day. Showing one sided content is going to make a generation that needs guidance think one way. So, Snapchat, change your way and bring conservative content in!
