Difference between revisions of "Snapchat"

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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 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 stays in place for 24 hours. Snapchat has become the 3rd 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.

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.

This is where you can view your story, friends stories and universal live 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]

Filters and Effects

Original Filters and Effects

In December of 2013, Snapchat introduced timestamps, temperature, speed overlays and color filters. These can be used after taking a picture on Snapchat and swiping through to view the different options. Snapchat also lets user draw on their pictures using their finger. The user can pick any color they wish and add to their already taken pictures.

Lenses

In September of 2015 Snapchat introduced different lenses for selfies.^[10] These features came after Snapchat acquired the Ukrainian startup Looksery in September 2015, which specializes in adding live animated effects to videos.^[11] This was the power behind Snapchat lenses, which let you choose a face filter to animate your selfies.^[12] 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.^[11] 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.^[11] 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 They are visual overlays are only available at certain locations.^[13] For example, major cities and landmarks have Geofilters that users may overlay on their photos. Anyone can make and submit an image for a community or on-demand Geofilter to Snapchat for approval. Companies can also sponsor Geofilters to promote their brand or product. This has become a source of major revenue for Snapchat.

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.^[14] 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^[15]

Snapchat Discover

Some of the many Discover options on Snapchat.

In January of 2015 Snapchat introduced the Discover feature. Discover allows users to view content from different brands or networks (The full list is below). Content ranges from interactive stories to Top Ten lists and is updated daily. Snapchat revolutionized how its users consume media, presenting a variety of choice with unique content. Snapchat released this message upon the release of Discover,

"Snapchat has always celebrated the way that you and your friends see the world. It’s fun to experience different perspectives through Snaps, Stories and Our Story.

Today we’re introducing Discover.

Snapchat Discover is a new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams. It’s the result of collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first. This is not social media.

Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular. We see it differently. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important. Discover is different because it has been built for creatives. All too often, artists are forced to accommodate new technologies in order to distribute their work. This time we built the technology to serve the art: each edition includes full-screen photos and videos, awesome long form layouts, and gorgeous advertising.

Discover is new, but familiar. That’s because Stories are at the core - there’s a beginning, middle, and end so that editors can put everything in order. Every edition is refreshed after 24 hours - because what’s news today is history tomorrow.

Discover is fun and easy to use. Tap to open an edition, swipe left to browse Snaps, or swipe up on a Snap for more. Each channel brings you something unique – a wonderful daily surprise! Happy Discovering!

Love, Team Snapchat"

Discover is Snapchat's answer to traditional news media. They hoped to capture a more personalized, interactive, and creative experience. Users can choose whether they look at any of the discover channels, and have the option to subscribe to any of the channels, both without payment. The release marks Snapchat's step away from one-to-one messages, to a more communal environment. Snapchat's business model for the Discover feature bases their fee on the number of views that the channel obtains. With Snapchat's 200 million plus users, Snapchat has the potential to earn a significant portion of their revenue through the companies featured on the Discover page. ^[16] An additional way that Snapchat can bring in revenue revolves around the ads, as users can see them in some of the Discover channels. Restrictions for the content of the ads are explicitly stated on Snapchat's advertising policy as well as reminders for the demographics of the user-base, including age, which can range from 13 to 99. ^[17]

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^[18]. 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. ^[19]

In the News

Privacy

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.^[20]

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.^[21]

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.^[22] 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.

Ban of Third Party Apps

As Snapchat became more popular, so too did third party apps that allowed one to save snaps sent without notifying the sender of the photos. Apps like SnapSave, SnapSpy, SaveSnap, and SnapGrab were brought to light after the third party app Snapsaved was hacked and more than 90,000 photos or videos were posted online.^[23] Since then, Snapchat has banned all third party apps. Snapchat now states that using third-party applications to access Snapchat can not only compromise your account, but is now a "violation of our Terms of Use." The app 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.^[24]

Screenshots and Privacy

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

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.^[25] 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."^[26]

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.

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.^[27]

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."^[28] 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.^[29]

Sexting

Sexting through Snapchat has become popular and concern has risen that minors may be involved in these sexting activities. To join Snapchat, a user must be age 13 and older. 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."^[30]

In 2014 at the University of Washington, there was a user study conducted that surveyed 127 adult Snapchat users.^[31] It consisted of about 40 online questions that took between 15-30 minutes to complete. Only 1.6% of the participants said they use Snapchat primarily for sexting while 14.2% admitted to sending explicit content via Snapchat at some point. This survey shows that a majority of users are using Snapchat to send strictly funny content to their friends. When asked why users chose Snapchat over other sites and apps to send this type of content, many said it was because of the vanishing feature.

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. ^[32] 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. ^[33] 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, 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. ↑ Snapchat Support - Lenses https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/ca/lenses
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} 28 Oct. 2015 Constine, Josh, Snapchat Adds Slow-Mo, Fast-Forward, And Rewind Video Filters https://techcrunch.com/2015/10/28/snapchat-slow-motion/
12. ↑ 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
13. ↑ Chamberlain, Lauryn "GeoMarketing 101: What Are Geofilters?" GeoMarketing, Mar 2, 2016. Web. Apr 6, 2017 http://www.geomarketing.com/geomarketing-101-what-are-geofilters
14. ↑ 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/
15. ↑ "Hail to the Snappers?" http://www.hercampus.com/school/u-mich/hail-snappers
16. ↑ Snapchat monetary gain http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/061915/how-snapchat-makes-money.asp Retrieved on 25 April 2016
17. ↑ Advertising https://www.snapchat.com/ads/policies Retrieved on 25 April 2016
18. ↑ Spectacles (product) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacles_(product) Retrieved on 4 April 2017
19. ↑ Spectacles by Snap Inc. https://www.spectacles.com Retrieved 4 April 2017
20. ↑ 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
21. ↑ 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
22. ↑ 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/
23. ↑ CNN http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/03/technology/snapchat-apology/
24. ↑ Quote from Snapchat's Terms of Service http://www.reuters.com/article/us-snapchat-photos-idUSKCN0HZ2AW20141010
25. ↑ 3 May 2014 Rossignol, Joe How to Screenshot Snapchat without sending Notification http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/05/03/how-to-screenshot-snapchat/
26. ↑ Snapchat Privacy Policy, https://www.snapchat.com/privacy
27. ↑ 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
28. ↑ Wallace, K. (2008). Online Anonymity. The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics.
29. ↑ 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
30. ↑ 13 June 2013 Kemp, Nicola What marketers should know about Snapchat http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/1186152/marketers-know-snapchat
31. ↑ 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
32. ↑ 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
33. ↑ 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