Snap Inc is the parent company of popular social media apps Snapchat, Bitmoji, and Spectacles. Snapchat is Snap Inc’s flagship product and claims over 300 million daily active users worldwide. Here is a comprehensive look at what Snap Inc is and the apps it offers.
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is a mobile app for sharing photos, videos, and messages with friends. It was created in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University. Some key features of Snapchat include:
- Snaps – Photos or videos shared with friends that disappear after being viewed.
- Stories – Photos and videos shared in a chronological sequence that disappear after 24 hours.
- Lenses – Augmented reality filters and effects that can be added to snaps.
- Discover – A section with curated content from media publishers, brands, celebrities.
- Chat – Messaging features for communicating with friends.
- Snap Map – A map showing where friends recently snapped.
A core part of Snapchat is the ephemeral nature of posts, with snaps disappearing after being viewed once. This ephemeral sharing aimed to create a more authentic, intimate experience between friends compared to permanent social media posts. Snapchat was an early pioneer of using the smartphone camera as the main way to share content. As of 2022, Snapchat has over 300 million daily active users and is extremely popular with teenagers and young adults in North America and Europe.
History of Snapchat
Here is a brief timeline of Snapchat’s history:
- 2011 – Snapchat launched in July 2011, created by Stanford students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown.
- 2012 – Snapchat gains traction, especially amongst teens and college students. By end of 2012 it has 1 million daily active users.
- 2013 – New features like Snapchat Stories and replays are introduced. Users reach over 10 million by mid 2013.
- 2014 – Snapchat turns down $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. Over 50 million snaps are being shared daily.
- 2015 – Major redesign of the app. Discover section is launched. Users exceed 100 million.
- 2016 – Snap Inc renamed from Snapchat Inc. Snapchat starts calling itself a camera company. Spectacles (camera sunglasses) are launched.
- 2017 – Snap Inc goes public in one of the biggest tech IPOs. Share price starts at $17.
- 2018 – Snapchat redesign draws some criticism from users but engagement continues to grow. New augmented reality and gaming features added.
- 2022 – Daily active users exceed 300 million. New features like Director Mode introduced for more editing control.
Snapchat has evolved from a simple ephemeral messaging app into a powerful mobile camera and social media platform. Even with competition from Instagram copying features, Snapchat continues to innovate and maintain a strong user base.
How Snapchat Works
Here is an overview of how the main features of Snapchat work:
Snaps
To take a snap, users open the app and use the camera to take a photo or video (up to 10 seconds long). They can edit the snap with filters, text, drawings, and stickers before sending it to friends. Recipients can view the snap once before it disappears. Users have the option to replay one snap per day if they want to view it again. Snapchatters can also save snaps they receive to their phone’s camera roll if they want to permanently keep them.
Stories
Stories allow sharing a collection of snaps displayed in chronological order. Users take photos and videos and add them to their story throughout the day. Followers can view stories an unlimited number of times within a 24-hour period before they disappear. In addition to user stories, Snapchat features stories from publishers, brands, and celebrities in the Discover section.
Lenses
Lenses use augmented reality to enhance selfies with real-time special effects and sounds. Popular lenses add filters, fun graphics and characters to a user’s face or environment. Snapchat rolls out new lenses daily to keep things fresh. Users can also create their own customizable lenses using Lens Studio.
Chat
Snapchat has a chat messaging feature for conversations with friends. Users can chat one-on-one or in groups, exchange text, photos, videos and calling. Chats are stored on Snap’s servers rather than the phone. Like snaps, chats are automatically deleted once both parties leave the conversation.
Snap Map
Snap Map is an opt-in feature that shows a map of where friends are and what they are snapping. It gives a sense of where friends are in real-time and makes it easier to meet up. The map displays Snaps publicly posted to Our Story as well as locations shared between friends.
Features and History of Snapchat
| Year | Feature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Launch | Snapchat first launched in July 2011, created by Stanford students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown |
| 2012 | Viral growth | The app started going viral, especially among college students. By the end of 2012 it had 1 million daily active users. |
| 2013 | Snapchat Stories | Snapchat Stories launched, allowing users to post snaps that appear for 24 hours. Users exceeded 10 million by mid 2013. |
| 2013 | Replay | The Replay feature was added allowing users to re-view one snap per day. |
| 2014 | $3 billion Facebook offer | Snapchat rejected a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. Over 50 million snaps were shared daily at this point. |
| 2015 | Major redesign | Snapchat rolled out a major app redesign with new Discover and Discover channels. |
| 2015 | 100 million users | Daily active users surpassed 100 million by the end of 2015. |
| 2016 | Renamed Snap Inc. | The company was renamed from Snapchat Inc. to Snap Inc. It started calling itself a camera company. |
| 2016 | Spectacles | Snap Inc. launched its first hardware product, Spectacles camera sunglasses. |
| 2017 | IPO | Snap Inc. went public in a $3.4 billion IPO, with share price starting at $17. |
| 2018 | Redesign backlash | A major app redesign was criticized by some but engagement continued to grow. New AR lenses and games were added. |
| 2019 | AR Landmarkers | Landmarker AR lenses launched, letting users overlay lenses on buildings and landmarks. |
| 2020 | 229 million users | Snapchat had 229 million daily active users by the end of 2020. |
| 2021 | Map layers | Snap Map added restaurant and brand layers to highlight points of interest. |
| 2022 | 300 million users | Daily active users surpassed 300 million. New Director Mode gave more creative editing options. |
As shown in the timeline, Snapchat has rapidly evolved with new features and capabilities being added regularly. It has solidified its place as a leading social media platform, especially among younger demographics.
Reasons for Snapchat’s Popularity
Here are some of the main factors behind Snapchat’s popularity:
Ephemerality
The ephemeral nature of snaps and stories differentiates Snapchat from permanent social platforms like Facebook. Content disappearing creates a unique, in-the-moment experience. Users feel more comfortable expressing themselves.
Visual creativity
Snapchat makes photo and video sharing fun with filters, lenses, stickers, drawings, and more editing options. It promotes visual creativity and self-expression.
Privacy
With disappearing content, Snapchat provides more privacy than other platforms. Phone numbers are required to find friends, limiting discoverability.
Authentic communication
The ephemerality of snaps leads to more authentic, meaningful interactions between real friends rather than accumulation of followers.
Storytelling
Stories enable sharing your day like a narrative with creative tools to make it fun. People enjoy following the story of friends’ lives.
AR experiences
Lenses powered by AR technology create engaging new ways to express yourself and interact with the world through your camera.
Snapchat Demographics
Here are some key demographics and statistics on Snapchat’s users:
- Over 300 million daily active users as of 2022
- Over 5 billion Snaps created every day
- 71% of users are under 34 years old
- 90% of users are between the ages of 13 and 24
- Over 40% of users are located in North America, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific
- 65% of daily users create content every day
- The app reaches over 90% of 13-24 year olds and 75% of 13-34 year olds in the US
- Users spend over 30 minutes per day on average on Snapchat
- Over 60% of users engage with ads on the app
As these demographics illustrate, Snapchat remains extremely popular among teenagers and Millennial/Gen Z users. Its concentration of younger audiences makes it highly attractive to brands targeting youth.
Snapchat’s Business Model
Snap Inc. makes money through the following ways:
Advertising
The majority of Snapchat’s revenue comes from selling advertising in the app. Ads appear between stories or as branded lenses and filters. Snap provides innovative ad offerings like Collection Ads and Commercials.
Subscriptions
Snapchat+ is a paid subscription offering exclusive features, starting at $3.99/month. Additional revenue comes from app store commissions on subscriptions purchased in Snapchat.
Spectacles
While not a major source of income yet, Snap does sell its Spectacles camera glasses and future wearable devices could expand hardware revenue.
Partnerships
Partnerships with wireless carriers like AT&T offer revenue sharing when users subscribe to services through Snapchat.
While Snapchat is free and makes money from ads, the app is designed to maximize time spent rather than directly monetize through in-app transactions. The company made over $4 billion in revenue in 2021.
Competitors to Snapchat
Some of Snapchat’s main competitors include:
Instagram is Snapchat’s biggest competitor, having successfully copied many Snapchat features into its own Stories and messaging. However, Snapchat has maintained its hold on younger demographics.
TikTok
The rapid growth of TikTok poses a major threat, especially for share of attention among Gen Z users. Like Snapchat, TikTok provides creative video tools.
While not a direct competitor app, Facebook competes for social media usage and advertising dollars in similar demographics as Snapchat.
YouTube
YouTube attracts younger viewers away with a vast catalogue of videos. Snapchat Discover still offers a more personal, curated video experience.
Twitter’s news and real-time sharing attracts some social media time away from Snapchat.
While competitive threats exist, Snapchat has retained a strong core user base by staying focused on its strengths in visual communication and creativity.
Conclusion
In summary, Snapchat pioneered ephemeral social messaging and remains extremely popular, especially among younger demographics who use it daily for visual communication. Some key facts about Snapchat and parent company Snap Inc. include:
- Flagship product Snapchat has over 300 million daily active users
- Popular features like Stories, Lenses, Chat make photo/video sharing creative and fun
- Snap Inc. earns revenue mainly through advertising and subscriptions
- Demographic is majority 13-34 year olds, critical for youth marketing
- Fends off competitors like Instagram by staying focused on creativity and authenticity
Ten years after launch, Snapchat continues to evolve as a prominent social media platform built around the smartphone camera. With its engaged youth audience and array of multimedia tools, Snap Inc. has solidified its place as a leading visual communications company.