Snapchat has grown to become one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger internet users. The app’s key feature is its ephemeral messaging system, where photos, videos, and texts (“Snaps”) disappear after being viewed by the recipient. This creates a sense of privacy and intimacy, as Snaps are meant to be viewed in the moment rather than saved permanently.
A core question about Snapchat user behavior is whether people tend to send more Snaps than they receive, or vice versa. Understanding this could provide insight into how people use the platform and what they get out of it. For instance, if most users send more Snaps than they view, it may suggest they value expressing themselves through creating Snaps. If more Snaps are viewed than sent, it could mean users appreciate consuming content posted by others.
Examining empirical data can help determine whether sending or receiving Snaps is more common. This article analyzes available statistics on Snapchat usage to evaluate the sending vs. viewing behavior of its users.
Snapchat’s Ephemeral Messaging
Snapchat introduced a revolutionary social media model when it launched in 2011. For the first time, users could exchange photos and videos that disappeared permanently after being viewed. This created an alternative to platforms like Facebook where content is meant to be permanently posted.
Snapchat’s ephemeral messaging system was inspired by the idea that moments are meant to be fleeting. Co-founder Evan Spiegel has described the appeal of ephemeral communication: “It’s about talking in the moment, talking in the present and having that immediacy of knowing what your friends are doing live as it happens. It’s way less about capturing the past or what you’ve done.”
The temporary nature of Snaps allows users to share everyday moments without worrying about them sticking around forever. Snaps are kept private from the public, meant just for the eyes of intended friends. The disappearing messages promote casual, authentic, and honest sharing.
Snapchatters might send impromptu selfies, videos of what they’re doing, or inside jokes that disappear immediately after being opened. There’s no need to perfectly craft content since it won’t have a permanent public record. Snapchat provides a playful way to communicate visually with friends.
Snapchat’s Growth
Snapchat has taken off in popularity since its launch. The app has accrued over 265 million daily active users as of Q4 2018. Its biggest hotspots are in North America and Europe, where over 100 million users are active in each region.
Snapchat has been particularly successful among younger demographics. Data from early 2018 showed that:
– 78% of 18-24 year olds in the U.S. use Snapchat
– 77% of 12-17 year olds in the U.S. use Snapchat
– Over 70% of 13-17 year olds in France and the UK use Snapchat
Teenagers embraced Snapchat early on and have fueled much of its growth. The fun, visual communication matches well with younger generations.
Snapchat hit its milestone of 100 million daily active users in 2014, just 3 years after launch. That’s faster user growth than Facebook and Instagram achieved in the same period after launch.
Snapchat’s popularity peaked around 2016, when growth began to stagnate. Changes to the app design and increasing competition from Instagram contributed to this slowdown. However, Snapchat still maintains a sizable user base, especially among the coveted youth demographics.
Sending vs. Viewing Snaps
At the heart of the Snapchat experience is the sending and receiving of ephemeral Snaps. This two-way communication is core to what makes the platform fun and engaging.
Snapchat has revealed some data that gives insight into whether users tend to send more Snaps or view more of the Snaps they receive. This sheds light on the behavior habits of typical Snapchatters.
In 2015, Snapchat reported that the typical user sent about 34 Snaps per day and received around 38 Snaps per day. So on average, users were viewing slightly more Snaps than they were sending.
Reasons for Viewing More Snaps
There are a few potential reasons why Snapchat users tend to view marginally more Snaps than they send:
– Receiving from many friends: Most Snapchatters likely have more friends than they regularly send Snaps to. For example, a user might frequently send Snaps to their 5 closest friends. But they may receive Snaps back from those 5 friends plus 10 more acquaintances. This makes it easy to view more messages than you send.
– Media from publishers: Snapchat features media content from major publishers like ESPN, Daily Mail, and Cosmopolitan. Frequently viewing these publisher Stories in addition to Snaps from friends can cause viewed Snaps to accumulate faster than sent Snaps.
– Passive viewing: It takes more effort to actively capture and send a new Snap than to simply open and view received Snaps. Some viewing may be done passively while snapping requires active engagement. The lower effort of viewing may lead users to do it more often.
– Viewing incentive: Snapchat rewards users for viewing Snaps and Stories through its Snapstreaks feature. Snapstreaks track how many days in a row you’ve snapped with each friend, incentivizing you to regularly open Snaps and not break the chain. This motivation may lead users to lean toward opening more Snaps.
Reasons for Sending More Snaps
However, there are also reasons why some individual users send more Snaps than they view:
– Heavy content creators: Some snapchatters enjoy creating visual content more than consuming it. These users are very active in taking videos and pictures to send out to friends. Their output of sent Snaps is higher than the Snaps they receive back.
– Restricted friend network: Users with a smaller number of friends on Snapchat have fewer sources of Snaps to regularly view from. But they may still send out a high volume of Snaps to that limited network. In this case, their sent Snaps would exceed received ones.
– Story sharers: Creating Stories (Snaps viewable for 24 hours) generates a high output of sent Snaps. Prolific Story posters can easily send more Snaps than they view via direct messaging.
– Content from camera roll: Snaps can also be sent from the camera roll rather than captured in the moment. If a user relies heavily on curating saved photos/videos to send out, this can drive up sent Snaps.
So while typical Snapchat users receive more Snaps than they send, subgroups of certain usage styles may actually send more than they view.
Recent Changes in Sending and Viewing
The last few years have brought some changes to Snapchat that influence sending and viewing behavior. Two main changes are increased prominence of Stories and the launch of Discover.
The Rise of Stories
When first launched, Snapchat was solely focused on ephemeral messaging between friends. But Stories, introduced in 2013, opened the app up to broadcasting content publicly.
With Stories, Snaps can be compiled together into a narrative that’s visible to all your friends for 24 hours. This shifted Snapchat from purely 1-on-1 communication to public content sharing.
Stories usage has skyrocketed. As of 2017, over 60% of all Snaps created were for Stories. And over 7 billion views of Stories take place each day.
This massive growth in Stories shifts snap behavior from purely bidirectional messaging to a mix of broadcasting and messaging. Users likely view way more Snaps now as Stories enable consuming ephemeral content from all your connections at once. But users also have more incentive to send as they can broadcast content widely through Stories rather than sending the same Snap individually to dozens of friends.
Overall, Stories probably amplifies both sending and viewing volume even if most viewing still happens from receiving rather than creating Stories.
The Launch of Discover
Discover, launched in 2015, offers curated content from major media partners. Discover broadens Snapchat into a multimedia platform from just user-generated content.
Discover features video content from top publishers that Snapchatters can subscribe to and watch on a daily basis. As of 2019, over 450 million people were engaging with Discover every month.
Discover provides unlimited content for Snapchatters to view and critique. Time spent consuming Discover content adds heavily to overall Snap viewing volume.
One analysis found Discover channels averaged 8 to 10 million video views per day in 2016. These enormous view counts for professional content amplify total Snaps viewed significantly.
Between Stories and Discover, the Snapchat ecosystem has way more Snaps being viewed daily than ever before. But user-created Snaps are also being sent out at staggering rates, with over 5 billion Snaps sent per day globally.
Conclusion: Most View Slightly More Than They Send
In conclusion, the evidence generally shows a typical Snapchat user views a few more Snaps per day than they send. Back in 2015, Snapchat reported averages of ~34 sent vs. ~38 viewed per day.
This indicates users are slightly more consumers of Snapchat content than creators on average. The expanded content options from Stories and Discover have likely amplified this viewing behavior over time as billions of Snaps are now viewable outside of one-on-one messaging.
However, active content creators may buck the trend and send out more Snaps than they take in. With over 5 billion Snaps sent per day, there remain plenty of power users generating tons of ephemeral content.
Overall, Snapchat’s success has been propelled by tapping into both the sending and viewing tendencies of mobile users. While users view marginally more Snaps than they individually send, the a
Appendix: Potential Table Visualizing Data
| Year | Average Snaps Sent Per Day | Average Snaps Received Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 34 | 38 |
| 2016 | 40 | 45 |
| 2017 | 50 | 55 |
This sample table visualizes hypothetical data on average daily sent/received snaps over time, showing a trend of users receiving slightly more snaps than they send each year.