Snapchat is a disruptor that could become a major headwind for all social media companies. The company isn't public, so it isn't required to report metrics or top and bottom line numbers. Facebook certainly won't talk about the company's implications on user growth, so it's hard to measure precisely how big of a bite Snapchat is taking from Facebook's numbers.
Though, the statistics that Snapchat does provide are staggering.
(Source: Snapchat)
Even though users can skip Snapchat ads the moment they show up, the ad fires on all cylinders right from the get-go, which may be an attractive feature for advertisers. The competition doesn't end there. Bear with me as I explain how the picture below is a game changer. (Source: HerCampus) Let's say a teenager is at a restaurant and their waiter has just placed their dish on the table. As annoying and/or unrealistic as it may sound, odds are that this teen will use Snapchat to send a picture of their plate to their friends. The practice has almost become synonymous with texting. I find that teenagers will be texting one another while simultaneously holding a conversation on Snapchat. The latter form of communication is facilitated by the black background with white text, which is designed to be able to be read easily no matter the colors behind it. Analogous to sector rotation, I believe that Snapchat has become insanely popular also because some other apps have fallen out of favor for the documentation of certain experiences. There are some events that are worthy of an Instagram post, some that are best documented on Twitter and others that belong on Snapchat. In my experience, most find their way onto the latter social media platform. The reasoning is quite simple: Facebook is being seemingly usurped by parents and relatives, it is an unwritten rule that one shall not post more than one Instagram post in a single day and Twitter is mainly a textual experience. Snapchat is often perceived as a more casual form of social media. With its addition of the "Discover" section and "Stories," Snapchat has added innovative avenues to share news, articles and live experiences. When Facebook tried buy Snapchat in 2014 for $3 billion, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel rejected, saying, "I think trading [Snapchat] for some short-term gain isn't very interesting." Seeing as Alibaba's (NYSE:BABA) $200 million stake in the company values Snapchat at $15 billion, Spiegel must be very entertained now.
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