Difference between revisions of "Snapchat"

Revision as of 01:55, 12 April 2017

Snapchat

"Snapchat Application" Snapchat Type Social Media Launch Date 2011 Status Active Product Line product Platform iOS, Android Website Snapchat Official Site

Snapchat is a social media mobile application created by Snap Inc. that allows users to send short-lived photos and videos to their friends. Users can add different photo filters, effects, captions, and drawings to these pictures, called 'snaps.' Users choose how long they want their snap to last for; photo snaps can last 1-10 seconds and video snaps can last up for up to 20 seconds when using the slow-motion filter. Both photos and videos disappear forever unless the receiver of the snap takes a screenshot of the snap, notifying both users. In 2013, Snapchat added a feature that allows users to replay one snap per day. Content placed on a user's Snapchat Story - a compiled feed of photos and videos viewable to a user's friends - stays in place for 24 hours. Other features in the app include messaging and video calling, viewing content feeds created by brands or networks, sending money to friends, and identifying music based on what's currently playing. Snapchat has become the third most popular social networking platform among millennials.^[1] As of April 2016, it was ranked number 4 on the 'Top Charts' for app downloads in the Apple iTunes Store.

Ethical concerns with Snapchat revolve around issues such as privacy, cat-fishing, sexting, and security. In particular, users are intuitively misled by Snapchat to believe that their photos disappear after their expiration when, in fact, posts are actually mysteriously stored somewhere by the firm. Furthermore, some users claim that Snapchat is illegally storing their sensitive identity features, such as iris scans, fingerprints and face geometrics. This fact, especially when coupled with one's knowledge of the previous security breaches at Snapchat, or of the platform's ongoing battle with third-party applications (some of which allow users to access others' already-expired 'Snaps'), surely sparks ethical worries within many. Yet, the most common and controversial concern about Snapchat is still the platform's widely-perceived enabling / encouraging of "sext-ing," as many observers and surveys have confirmed that the "disappearing" message service is commonly turned to for the virtual exchange explicit images. (Concerns over "sext-ing" on Snapchat are obviously heightened by some users' fears that their uploads are being stored).

History

Reggie Brown and Evan Spiegel are the co-creators of Snapchat. They met during their freshman year at Stanford University when they joined the same fraternity, Kappa Sigma. In Kappa Sigma, Spiegel and Brown met fellow co-founder and future programmer of the app, Bobby Murphy. Brown and Spiegel launched an app called Picaboo in July of 2011. Brown sparked the idea for the app when he said, "I wish these photos I am sending this girl would disappear."^[2] In April of 2011, Spiegel presented his idea to his class as a final project. His fellow classmates were hesitant about the success of the app. Murphy eventually wrote the source code and Picaboo launched as an iOS app in July 2011. It was launched from Speigel's living room. Two months later, the company switched its name to Snapchat, with Spiegel as CEO, Bobby Murphy as CTO, and Reggie Brown as CMO.^[3][4] Brown left his two partners at the end of 2011 due to financial disagreements. At first, the application grew slowly in popularity, but eventually, it's popularity picked up among high school students. By April 2012, the application had over 100,000 users. Spiegel dropped out of Stanford in his last year when Snapchat started to bring high profits. The group added the Snapchat story feature in 2013. After facing some legal issues, Snapchat hired Mike Randall in June 2014 as the monetization Vice President.

Snapchat founders Evan Spiegel (right) and Bobby Murphy (left).

In April 2012, Lightspeed Venture Partners invested $485,000 into Snapchat. This was the first big investment that Snapchat received. By winter of 2012, the app launched on Android phones. Snapchat also introduced the video-sending feature. By February of that year, over 60 million snaps were being sent per day.

By May of 2013, 150 million snaps were being sent per day. With Snapchat's growing popularity and success, Mark Zuckerberg offered to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in November of 2013, but Snapchat declined. Later Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel stated that the reason he turned down Zuckerberg’s accusation offer was that "few people in the world who get to build a business like this, I think trading that for some short-term gain isn’t very interesting.”^[5]

Despite the app's growing success, there was an ongoing lawsuit between the original founders over who truly came up with the idea for the app. After years of battling it out in court, the lawsuit was finally settled between the founders in 2014. Spiegel and Murphy paid Reggie Brown an undisclosed amount to end the tumultuous lawsuit.

By May of 2015, Snapchat was valued at approximately $16 billion.^[6] After introducing wearable sunglasses called Snapchat Spectacles in 2016, the company rebranded to the name Snap Inc. ^[7]

Features

When Snapchat was initially launched, users were only able to send pictures to each other. Snapchat has introduced a variety of new features as it continues to update and improve.

Snapchat Videos

In December of 2012 Snapchat introduced the video feature. Users can take and send short videos via Snapchat to their friends. Snap videos cannot be re-watched, and they expire after they are watched. A snap video can last up to 20 seconds.

Gif showing how to view friends' stories.

Snapchat Story

In October of 2013, Snapchat introduced the story feature. Previously, the only people that could see your snaps were other users that you individually sent snaps to. The My Story feature allows users to post a snap of a photo or video that everyone on their list of Snapchat friends can see. It is automatically deleted after 24 hours, but unlike individual snaps, it can be watched many times. There is also a way to see who watched your snap story or took a screenshot of it.

In June of 2014, the 'Our Story' feature was released. Users could now post their snaps to a single-event based story that all Snapchat users could see. The 'Our Story' featured different cities, sporting events, fashion shows, holidays, major world events and more. Snapchat was no longer just a way to communicate with friends but also offered a way to stay updated with different cultural and world events through people's personal selfies, pictures, and videos.

Instant Messaging and Video Calling

In May of 2015, Snapchat introduced an instant messaging and video calling feature. Users can respond to a snap by messaging back the sender or send a short video. Users can also video call each other if they are both on the app at the same time. This can be done by clicking click the box button in the left bottom corner to access your snaps, then swiping right on a particular person's name. This is where the user can choose from the different modes of messaging.

The Friends List emojis and their meanings

Trophy Case

In Snapchat's major update in September 2015, they debuted the Trophy Case. This case unlocks trophies for reaching a certain milestone on Snapchat from hitting a certain number of points to sending your first video snap.^[8] Users can access their trophy case by hitting the white ghost in the top center of the landing page and hitting the trophy symbol that is in the same spot. There the trophies appear. If the user has earned a trophy, the emoji is displayed. If the user has not hit the milestone, a lock emoji is seen, followed by a question mark if clicked. This makes it difficult for users to attain the trophies as there is no way to know how to earn them. Snapchat stated that there is no public list of the trophies, but users can learn as they go. But, there is speculation of what is needed to acquire certain trophies, one such list can be found here.

Friends List Emojis

In September 2015 Snapchat introduced the friends list emojis. These emojis show up next to a friend's name over time for several different reasons. They are private and only can be seen by the user. These reasons, along with their corresponding default emoji, are listed to the right. Users have the ability to customize the emojis displayed in their friends list.

Other emojis appear on Snapchat as well. These custom emojis are in a person's name and represent an official, verified account.^[9]

Bitmojis

Alongside emojis, users can download the Bitmoji app to create a personalized avatar to be more expressive in Snapchat. After downloading the app, users can personalize the Bitmoji by choosing face shape, hair color and texture, and outfits that most closely resemble their own appearance and personality. Then the user can link the Bitmoji app to snapchat and much like the emoji keyboard, a Bitmoji gallery will appear in the users snapchat alongside the regular emoji options. There are hundreds of Bitmojis which can be used for any experience, situation, or feeling that the user might want to express. For example, there are several Bitmojis for expressions such as "Good Morning", "Good night", romantic expressions such as "Thinking of you", "Miss you", "I love you", and popular pop culture expressions as well such as "New phone who dis", and "Cash me outside". The Bitmojis change regularly to adapt to the changing cultural environment, however some staple Bitmojis always stay in place. Due to the amount of Bitmojis available, users are able to tailor their messages to their audience and make their snapchats more relatable, funny, or adapt their snapchats to whichever emotion they are feeling. ^[10]

Filters and Effects

Original Filters and Effects

In December of 2013, Snapchat introduced timestamps, temperature, speed overlays, and color filters. After users takes a picture, they can view the different options by swiping left or right on the screen. Snapchat also allows users to draw free-hand on their pictures using the touch of their finger. The user can pick any color they wish and add illustrations to their already taken pictures.

Lenses

In September of 2015 Snapchat introduced different lenses for selfies.^[11] These features came after Snapchat acquired the Ukrainian startup Looksery in September 2015, which specializes in adding live animated effects to videos.^[12] This was the power behind Snapchat lenses, which let you choose a face filter to animate your selfies.^[13] Some lenses are obvious right away, while others require the user to perform an action, such as opening their mouth or raising their eyebrows. In order to use the lenses, the front camera must be enabled. The user must then press and hold their face on the screen until the lenses appear along the bottom. The user can then slide through the different lenses and choose to use one as they wish. Snapchat provides up to ten options to choose from. Originally, Snapchat offered users the ability to purchase their favorite lenses for $0.99, but they recently scrapped that idea. Instead, they now update the lenses on a daily basis, replacing the oldest lens with a new one everyday.^[12] But if users previously bought lenses, they will be permanently available.

The Speed Modification filters that Snapchat offers

Speed Modifiers

In October 2016, Snapchat introduced a new set of filters called "Speed Modifiers" for videos.^[12] These filters include slow motion, fast forward, or rewind effects. To use these filters, a user must first shoot a video on Snapchat and then swipe until the filters appear.

Geofilters

Geofilters are visual overlays only available at certain locations.^[14] Major cities and landmarks are most likely to utilize the Geofilter feature, but users may submit their own images as filters (though Snapchat must approve them first.) Companies can also sponsor Geofilters for promotion, which has become a major source of revenue for Snapchat. In addition to companies sponsoring Geofilters, regular Snapchat users can also purchase customized Geofilters for events such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or any other special occasion which the user wants the surrounding area or attendees to know about. These "on-demand" Geofilters can be entirely designed by the user or the user can choose a preexisting template offered by Snapchat. Next, the user can specify the area within which the filter can be used. Finally, the user can submit it for review and purchase it to be used for a short period of time. Snapchat charges $5 for every 20,000 square feet of space within which the filter can be applied.

Snapcash

In November of 2014, Snapchat partnered with Square Cash to launch the Snapcash feature in which users can send money to their friends on the app. Snapchat users can add a debit card or bank account, type a dollar amount into Snapchat's text-chat feature, and hit the green pay button to instantly send a friend money.^[15] All of the user's account details are held by Square Cash, rather than Snapchat, so users don't have to worry about trusting Snapchat with personal information. In the past, Snapchat has had issues with privacy and security.

Usage at Michigan

Snapchat is widely popular among University of Michigan students, and the University was one of the first institutions to create an official Snapchat account. The following was gathered from a survey about Michigan students' Snapchatting habits:

• 43% use Snapchat to flirt
  
• 86% send Snapchats to friends at Michigan
  
• 90% send Snapchats to friends at other schools
  
• 77% mostly send "selfies" on Snapchat
  
• 16% mostly send Snapchats that are not of themselves
  
• 67% make ugly faces in Snapchats
  
• 18% avoid making unattractive faces in snapchats
  
• 46% only send Snapchats to their close friends
  
• 20% use the Snapchat Stories feature
  
• 59% send Snapchats when they go out at night
  
• 83% send Snapchats during the school day
  
• 61% send Snapchats during class^[16]

Snapchat Discover

Gif showcasing the various Discover options on Snapchat.

In January of 2015, Snapchat introduced the Discover feature. Discover allows users to view content from different brands or networks such as CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, the Food Network, DailyMail, ESPN, IGN, and more. Content ranges from interactive stories to Top Ten lists and is updated every 24 hours by editorial teams. When viewing a Discover channel's story, users can also swipe up from the bottom to read longform content or view longer videos by the channel.

According to Snapchat's release message explaining the new feature, Discover is a way for brands editors and artists to "build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first."^[17] Users can choose what Discover channels' stories they want to view, and have the option to subscribe to any of the channels free of charge. The release is Snapchat's step from one-to-one messages to a more community based environment.

Snapchat bases their fees for Discover channels on the number of views that a Discover channel obtains. In March 2015, Snapchat charged Discover partners $100 per thousand views.^[18]

In addition, Snapchat uses full-screen vertical photo or video advertisements to bring in revenue. Users see these ads when tapping through their friends' Snapchat Stories or watching Discover channels. Restrictions for the content of the ads are stated on Snapchat's advertising policy in addition to reminders about the demographics of the user-base such as age, which ranges from 13 to 99 years. ^[19]

Memories

The Memories feature on Snapchat is essentially a cumulative archive of the Snaps and Stories users save and upload. It acts as a backup for each user's account. One of the main benefits of Memories is the ability for users to re-share old Snaps and Stories. They can be sent individually to friends or uploaded to one's Story^[20]. This was an important update for Snapchat because unlike in the past, Snaps no longer have to disappear. They can be saved and stored in the app, or even saved to a user's phone's camera roll. Previously, social media generally only offered users a way to create semi-public photo albums and streams of status updates. Snapchat Memories now offers something unique in their new searchable personal photo collection^[21].

Snapchat Spectacles

Snapchat Spectacles are wearable sunglasses with the ability to record snaps from the perspective of the user. They were released on November 10, 2016 after their announcement on September 23, 2016^[22]. They can be purchased from Snapbot vending machines that pop up in new locations unexpectedly for a short period of time. February 20, 2017 marked their release online for purchase. The spectacles come in 3 different colors, including coral, teal, and black, and can be purchased for $130 USD.

Users press a button on the wearable to record snaps, which shines a light for others to see that the user is recording. After recording, the spectacles send the snap to the users memories via wifi, where they can then send to friends or share on their story. The spectacles can be plugged into their case to charge after use. ^[23]

Shazam

In December 2016, Snapchat paired up with Shazam Entertainment^[24]. Shazam is a music identification app that allows users to record music they hear in the real world and receive feedback that provides information about what they are listening to. The Snapchat Shazam feature allows users to hold their finger down on the main camera screen (activating the feature) to identify music from a database of millions of different songs^[25]. The feature provides user with songs names, artists, and the option to add the relevant artists as a friend on the app. Additionally the feature gives the user the option to continue listening to the song on outside apps such as Spotify^[24].

Ethical Concerns

Do The Pictures Truly Disappear?

What separates Snapchat from other photo and video messaging apps is that the content sent to Snapchat friends disappears after being viewed. This 'vanishing' feature sends mixed messages to users. Many users think this means they can send explicit content without worrying about other people seeing. But, the golden rule of the internet is that whatever is put on the internet is there forever and virtually anyone can figure out a way to see it. Even if you press 'delete,' it is difficult to permanently delete files from cyberspace. Snapchat even warns in their privacy policy, "A few final words on deletion: We can’t guarantee that messages and corresponding metadata will be deleted within a specific timeframe." In 2011, a user figured out how to get these 'deleted snaps' back.^[26] Founder Evan Spiegel responded to this hack saying, "The people who most enjoy using Snapchat are those who embrace the spirit and intent of the service. There will always be ways to reverse engineer technology products — but that spoils the fun!" While this may be true, there is a definite misconception among users that content permanently vanishes.

Banning Third Party Applications

As Snapchat gained popularity, third-party applications that allowed users to secretly save snaps gained attraction. After hackers released more than 90,000 photos and videos from Snapsaved, third-party applications such as SnapSave, SnapSpy, SaveSnap, and SnapGrab could not longer freely operate with Snapchat.^[27] Since this breach, Snapchat banned all third party applications. Snapchat states that using third-party applications to access Snapchat is a "violation of our Terms of Use." A Snapchat developer says: If you are using third-party applications to access Snapchat, please change your password and stop using these applications. If you continue to use these apps, we will have to lock your account. If you have already been locked, you may be able to unlock your account by changing your password. If you do not stop using third-party applications, your account may be permanently locked.^[28]

Privacy

This is the notification that a user receives when a screenshot of their Snapchat is taken

Screenshots

The only way to save a snap is to take a screenshot of it, but the original sender of that snap is notified. This feature was put in place to discourage users from taking screenshots. Unfortunately many technology blogs have revealed ways to take screenshots without the other person knowing.^[29] Another way people save snaps without even taking a screenshot is by using a second device to record and save the content. That picture or video is often sent around without the original sender even knowing. While this is a complete violation of privacy, users use Snapchat at their own risks and as Snapchat reminds users in its privacy policy, "The same common sense that applies to the Internet at large applies to Snapchat as well: Don’t send messages that you wouldn’t want someone to save or share."^[30]

What information does Snapchat save and use? They have your location, access to photos, and activity in other apps collected by cookies. Snapchat is less interested in the content of their photos but more into the metadata it provides. Snapchat records the filters you use, the stories on 'Discover' you view, if you have replayed a snap, and more. They do this to improve their services. They also use metadata from outside apps you use in order to cater the content you see to your interests. Snapchat's privacy policy details how they use all of the data they collect.

Face Recognition

Two Illinois men filed a lawsuit against Snapchat in 2016, reaching the federal courts. They argued that the social media company violated state privacy laws with the "Lenses" feature. The class-action lawsuit claims Snapchat has illegally collected, stored and used users' biometric information: iris scans, fingerprints or face geometry. Biometric information is unique to each individual and can be used to determine someone's identity. This allegedly violates the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.^[31]

On April 6th, 2017, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Ian Kahaloa was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball after failing a second drug test. Kahaloa was a fifth-round pick and a promising prospect. He was seen on Snapchat using drugs. The videos are available online.^[32]

Catfishing

Catfishing is the practice of creating a fictional online identity to enter into a romantic relationship with another person who assumes a non-fictional online identity. The practice occurs across many social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter and has been known to occur on Snapchat. Emotional and financial damage can occur as a result of catfishing. In April of 2015, Eddie Matos, a high school teen in Connecticut, was criminally charged in a case of catfishing. The teen created a fake identity as 13-year-old girl "Casey Morales" on Snapchat and solicited nude photos from over 20 other minors. He used these photos as blackmail in exchange for iTunes gift cards and protection for himself despite being anonymous.^[33]

Anonymity and online identity are two ethical issues associated with this case. According to Wallace, a person is anonymous when their anonymous-affiliated traits don't correspond with their real-life traits, therefore making them unidentifiable. One reason people choose to be anonymous is to perform further actions without repercussions, also known as "agent anonymity."^[34] The Casey Morales persona Matos used is an example of agent anonymity. Using the fake persona allowed Matos to catfish and blackmail minors for seven months until a victim brought the case to the police and Matos was caught.^[35]

Sexting

Snapchat has become a popular interface used for sexting and sending sexually explicit photos. In a 2013 UK study, 47% of Snapchat users aged 18-30 had received nude photos and 67% of users had received images that had "inappropriate poses or gestures."^[36]. A 2014 the University of Washington Study found that 14.2% of participants had sent explicit content via Snapchat at some point, and 1.6% used the app primarily for sexting ^[37].

Since a user only has to be age 13 or older to join Snapchat, and over a quarter of Snapchat users are still in high school, this raises mild concerns as to whether minors are engaging in these sexting activities on the app. Sexting on Snapchat is even more concerning due to hacking that the app has experienced in the past.

Snapchat has long been under fire for its alleged proliferation of sexual messaging, especially in its first few years. Back in 2013, many believed it would flop or scare off investors due to its correlation with sexting.^[38] As stated above by the University of Washington report, sexting isn't as common as people think. Still, about half of respondents reported having their message screenshotted and/or have screenshotted a message themselves. ^[39]. Efforts to curb the assocation were taken by Snapchat in 2015. With its addition of Lenses, Snapchat altered the ability to replay messages, charging users 0.99 cents for a replay.^[40] Still, Snapchat has accumulated its fair share of sexting-related stories across various news sites. One major case occurred January 25th, 2017, where over 35 Michigan high school students were involved in a scandal. A 17-year-old student in Davison Township compiled sexual photos of 35 girls which he shared on a social media.^[41] Years after Snapchat's release, sexting still makes headlines associated with the app.

Snapstreaks

A Snapstreak tells a user how many consecutive days they've chatted with someone on Snapchat. If that person does not reply to one's Snap within 24 hours, the Snapstreak is broken. This has become an increasingly popular way for teens to "quantify" their relationships. Originally intended to keep users engaged, it has turned into a serious source of stress for teens. Some professionals are criticizing this feature of Snapchat, calling it an unethical design of the app. It "exploits psychological vulnerabilities to influence what users do without realizing it," according to former Google design ethicist, Tristan Harris^[42]. This feature, along with a person's Snapchat score (total number of Snaps sent), quantifies each user's use of the app into a single number. To some, Snapstreaks are meaningless internet points that they gather for talking to their friends. But for many teens these days, it's how a friendship and, more importantly, their social status is defined.

Security Breaches

In 2013, researchers at Gibson Security revealed an exploit that would allow them to steal users' phone numbers. The vulnerability was Snapchat's "Find My Friends" feature, which allows users to load the contents of their phone's contact list into the app, which would then provide them with the usernames of the accounts associated with these numbers. This makes it possible for a malicious hacker to feed the app randomly generated phone numbers to receive information the associated account, possibly at a rate of more than five thousand numbers a minute. ^[43] The hackers could then use this information to build a database of Snapchat users, possibly for the purpose of selling this information to advertisers. Though Snapchat was warned of this exploit in advance, they did not take action to fix the vulnerability, which led to over 4.6 million users being affected by a 2014 security breach. ^[44] As of April 2017, this feature is still part of the app.

References

1. ↑ Snapchat is Now the Third Most Popular Social Network Among Millennials. (2014). Martin-Wilbourn Partners. Retrieved from http://mwpartners.com/snapchat-is-now-the-third-most-popular-social-network-among-millennials/
2. ↑ A Brief History of Snapchat, Jordan Crook and Anna Escher, 15 October 2015 http://techcrunch.com/gallery/a-brief-history-of-snapchat/
3. ↑ The Inside Storey of Snapchat, The World's hottest app or a 3 billion dollar disappearing act https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2014/01/06/the-inside-story-of-snapchat-the-worlds-hottest-app-or-a-3-billion-disappearing-act/
4. ↑ Snapchat, A Growing Trend http://udreview.com/snapchat-a-growing-trend-1.2939743#.UNYyv_xfN5Q
5. ↑ Fiegerman, S. (2014). “Snapchat CEO Reveals Why He Rejected Facebook's $3 Billion Offer”. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/01/06/snapchat-facebook-acquisition-2/#Uve45HC9tmq0
6. ↑ Here's one big reason Snapchat is worth $16 billion, Eugene Kim, 29 May 2015 http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-huge-among-millennials-2015-5
7. ↑ CSO Imran Khan Explains Snapchat's Rebrand to Snap Inc. http://www.adweek.com/digital/cso-imran-khan-explains-snapchat-s-rebrand-snap-inc-173719/ Retrieved 5 April 2017
8. ↑ 3 March 2016 Ligato, Lorenzo, Here’s How To Unlock All Of The New Snapchat Trophies http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/snapchat-trophies_us_561ea840e4b050c6c4a3f5cb
9. ↑ Snapchat http://emojipedia.org/snapchat/
10. ↑ Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-bitmoji-snapchat-emoji-app-iphone-android-2016-7/#hopefully-bitmoji-keeps-adding-more-i-never-want-to-text-without-them-13/
11. ↑ Snapchat Support - Lenses https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/ca/lenses
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} 28 Oct. 2015 Constine, Josh, Snapchat Adds Slow-Mo, Fast-Forward, And Rewind Video Filters https://techcrunch.com/2015/10/28/snapchat-slow-motion/
13. ↑ 18 Oct. 2015 Kosoff, Maya, How to use Snapchat Lenses, the new feature teens are obsessed with http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-snapchat-lens-feature-2015-10
14. ↑ Chamberlain, Lauryn "GeoMarketing 101: What Are Geofilters?" GeoMarketing, Mar 2, 2016. Web. Apr 6, 2017 http://www.geomarketing.com/geomarketing-101-what-are-geofilters
15. ↑ 17 Nov. 2014, Constine, Josh Snapchat Now Lets You Send Money To Friends Through Snapcash Deal With Square Cash https://techcrunch.com/2014/11/17/snapcash/
16. ↑ "Hail to the Snappers?" http://www.hercampus.com/school/u-mich/hail-snappers
17. ↑ Introducing Discover. (2017). Snap.com. Retrieved 7 April 2017, from https://www.snap.com/en-US/news/post/introducing-discover/
18. ↑ Snapchat monetary gain (2016). http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/061915/how-snapchat-makes-money.asp Retrieved on 25 April 2016
19. ↑ Advertising https://www.snapchat.com/ads/policies Retrieved on 25 April 2016
20. ↑ Nightingale, Rob. Everything You Need to Know About Using Snapchat Memories MakeUseOf http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/everything-need-know-using-snapchat-memories/ 2016, Retrieved 10 April 2017
21. ↑ How to Use Memories Snapchat Support https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/article/using-memories 2017, Retrieved 10 April 2017
22. ↑ Spectacles (product) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacles_(product) Retrieved on 4 April 2017
23. ↑ Spectacles by Snap Inc. https://www.spectacles.com Retrieved 4 April 2017
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1} Garun, Natt. You can now Shazam a song from within Snapchats. 13 Dec. 2016. "The Verge"
25. ↑ Shazam. HOW DID WE GET HERE?. 2017. "Shazam"
26. ↑ Snapchat's 'disappearing' videos don't actually vanish, Laurie Segall, 28 December 2012 http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/28/technology/security/snapchat-security-flaw/
27. ↑ CNN http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/03/technology/snapchat-apology/
28. ↑ Quote from Snapchat's Terms of Service http://www.reuters.com/article/us-snapchat-photos-idUSKCN0HZ2AW20141010
29. ↑ 3 May 2014 Rossignol, Joe How to Screenshot Snapchat without sending Notification http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/05/03/how-to-screenshot-snapchat/
30. ↑ Snapchat Privacy Policy, https://www.snapchat.com/privacy
31. ↑ Graham, Meg, Snapchat privacy suit filed by Illinois men heads to federal court http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-snapchat-lawsuit-privacy-lenses-bsi-20160718-story.html
32. ↑ Cwik, Chris, Suspended Reds prospect posted videos of apparent drug use on Snapchat http://sports.yahoo.com/news/suspended-reds-prospect-posted-videos-apparent-drug-use-snapchat-205743302.html
33. ↑ 3 April 2015, Student Used Online Alias, Snapchat to "Catfish" Teens: Police http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/Snapchat-Hartford-Teen-Caught-Catfishing-at-Least-20-People-Police-298449211.html
34. ↑ Wallace, K. (2008). Online Anonymity. The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics.
35. ↑ 14 August 2015, Hartford Teen Avoids Jail In 'Catfishing' Scheme http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-nude-photos-extortion-plea-0815-20150814-story.html
36. ↑ 13 June 2013 Kemp, Nicola What marketers should know about Snapchat http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/1186152/marketers-know-snapchat
37. ↑ Sex, Lies, or Kittens? Investigating the Use of Snapchat’s Self-Destructing Messages, Franziska Roesner, Brian T. Gill, and Tadayoshi Kohno, 2014 http://homes.cs.washington.edu/~yoshi/papers/snapchat-FC2014.pdf
38. ↑ Whitehouse, Kaja, Snapchat sexting scandal could scare off investors, 2013, http://nypost.com/2013/11/14/snapchat-sexting-scandal-could-scare-off-investors/
39. ↑ Sex, Lies, or Kittens? Investigating the Use of Snapchat’s Self-Destructing Messages, Franziska Roesner, Brian T. Gill, and Tadayoshi Kohno, 2014 http://homes.cs.washington.edu/~yoshi/papers/snapchat-FC2014.pdf
40. ↑ Horton, Helena, Will Snapchat's new update stop people from sexting using the app? 2015 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11868102/Will-Snapchats-new-update-stop-people-from-sexting-using-the-app.html
41. ↑ ABC News, Sexting scandal involving more than 35 Mid-Michigan high schoolers, Jan 25 1017
42. ↑ Shamsian, Jacob. Teens are obsessed with this one Snapchat score that can make or break friendships Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/teens-are-obsessed-with-snap-streaks-on-snapchat-2016-12 2016, Retrieved 10 April 2017
43. ↑ 27 December 2013 Prince, Brian "Researchers Reveal Snapchat Security Issues" http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities---threats/researchers-reveal-snapchat-security-issues/d/d-id/1141109
44. ↑ 1 January 2014 Fung, Brian "A Snapchat security breach affects 4.6 million users. Did Snapchat drag its feet on a fix?" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/01/01/a-snapchat-security-breach-affects-4-6-million-users-did-snapchat-drag-its-feet-on-a-fix/?utm_term=.4801aa69d236