The Innovation of Snapchat

           There are many key factors in watching innovation spread. Luckily, our generations have witnessed the innovation of many different applications that are very widespread. A few examples are Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, even big technological advancements like the iPhone, Android, and mainstream tablets. I can vividly remember the day I downloaded Snapchat for the first time. I was thirteen and my mom had been warning me about using the app safely. I sat on the floor of my sisters' room for hours snapchatting my friend, with absolutely no point to the pictures I was sending her. There were no fun filters, no games to play, I don't even think that texting through Snapchat was developed. Nowadays, thirteen year olds who download Snapchat are basically downloading a completely different app than what my thirteen year old self had.
         The app was conceived in April 2011 and launched later in December of 2012. The app did not become very successful until there were proper funds raised in 2013 to build out the product and create a wide reach of people who would download it. From 2014-2016, Snapchat constantly worked on building capital in order to expand and rebrand. An example I remember is having to pay a small fee each time you wanted to replay a missed Snapchat from somebody. (It was really inexpensive, around $0.99 for three replays, but based on how the app lets you do it for free now, it seems ridiculous). Today, we are witnessing a rebranding of Snapchat all around. They changed their name from "Snapchat Inc." to "Snap Inc."
       From its initial launch in December 2012, Snapchat has gained intense popularity amongst every smartphone user. By November 2013, less than a year from its launch, over 400 million snapchats were being sent PER DAY! By December 2014, Snapchat's worth was $485 million, raised by about 23 investors in the company, a small amount of investors in comparison to the sum of money. Community stories on Snapchat reach about 6 billion views per day, and that was recorded in their early development. The point is, Snapchat is ever growing and changing to keep up with the times.
      Snapchat was an outlier in most forms of communication. People downloaded it because it was funny to send absurd pictures to your friends that both the sender and receiver would not be able to open again after the picture was gone. With the obvious inappropriate uses aside, the world of technology would not be the same if Snapchat had not been developed. When Snapchat first introduced Snap Stories, Instagram and Facebook both developed story platforms as well to keep up with their competitor. Snapchat has been taking the lead as the main social media application. That, combined with their ever adapting software, is why I do not predict a downfall in the application in the foreseeable future.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Snapchat