Blog 5 - The Rise of Expiring Social Content
Just when we thought that the guys at Snapchat were crazy for valuing themselves at $25 billion, they might be on to something. Before dedicating my blog to this topic, I've read numerous of articles out there that all agreed 2017 will be the year of expiring social content. Let's break it down.
The idea behind expiring social content was started in 2011 by Snapchat. It was the first of its kind. Although, many thought that the trend would eventually fade. Snapchat proved otherwise. Five years later, Snapchat currently has approximately 158 million daily active users per worldwide. It has become the face of expiring social content. The idea of this concept was so genius from the start that Facebook also jumped on the bandwagon early on. After the failed attempt at purchasing Snapchat for $3 BILLION IN CASH a couple years back, Facebook finally adopted this concept on their own platform, Instagram. The feature of Instagram stories was officially introduced on August 2nd, 2016. Users of both platforms were outraged at the obvious replication, which resulted in none other than Internet memes.
Facebook's attempts to replicate and purchase Snapchat say a lot about the value of the app. Despite not making any money, investors believe that Snapchat is worth $25 billion because of its potential growth. Snapchat followers are some of the most dedicated users, spending about 25-30 minutes of in-app time daily. Not to mention, users open the app on an average of 18 times per day. With the continuous growth in mobile marketing, there is a huge potential for Snapchat to grow and be profitable. If that's the case, maybe I should start deleting my blogs 24 hours after it's published.
The idea behind expiring social content was started in 2011 by Snapchat. It was the first of its kind. Although, many thought that the trend would eventually fade. Snapchat proved otherwise. Five years later, Snapchat currently has approximately 158 million daily active users per worldwide. It has become the face of expiring social content. The idea of this concept was so genius from the start that Facebook also jumped on the bandwagon early on. After the failed attempt at purchasing Snapchat for $3 BILLION IN CASH a couple years back, Facebook finally adopted this concept on their own platform, Instagram. The feature of Instagram stories was officially introduced on August 2nd, 2016. Users of both platforms were outraged at the obvious replication, which resulted in none other than Internet memes.
If Snapchat believes it is worth 25 billion, I wonder if they have a lot of new ideas or features in the works! I personally love Snapchat and I think it is a really fun way to communicate with people. It will be interesting to see where they take the app next.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, Snapchat is worth a large amount of money despite their lack of serious income/advertising revenue. However, the dedication of their users and new developments makes them a serious contender in my eyes for even more future growth as they look to update and monetize the app.
ReplyDeleteI agree in that I think Snapchat has a ton future developments coming and a ton of potential to keep growing and succeeding. Every time Snapchat does something people might not like (ex: taking best friend lists away), they always come out with something better to make people continue to use it and like it.
ReplyDeleteI think that Snapchat has a lot of potential for growth as you said. I am a personal fan of Snapchat, but have worked with several companies who don't quiet know how to use it for their business. I think it could be interesting to see if they do anything that makes it easier for businesses to use in the near future, which would lead to a bigger market and more growth for them.
ReplyDeleteSnapchat brought this idea of expiring social content to life! I think Snapchat is still headed in the right direction. I love their stories feature. Real time content is seen through this feature. Because of the expiring component of stories, news outlets and magazines provide up-to-date, current information on all the latest news and trends. I do not believe this is a fad. This is something that is going to stick around for a long time.
ReplyDeleteDisappearing content is such an interesting phenomenon, and fascinating to watch because of the way that instagram has followed along. While I love snapchat and instagram, I do find it interesting from a marketing perspective because advertisements are so prevalent on my feed. It will be interesting to see how they all adapt as content changes!
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not use Snapchat, I do find the concept of expiring social content to be interesting, not only in terms of the user experience, but also the business implications that come from it. Personally, I like for the content I look at not to disappear, in case I want to go back to it (YouTube videos, for instance). However, for people that are absorbing so much content at a time and constantly seeking that which is up to date, Snapchat makes sense as a popular social media outlet.
ReplyDeleteThough this valuation seems crazy, you might be onto something. I personally have grown sick of Snapchat, though it seems to massively to younger generations (wow I feel old...). I also can't believe people spend up to 30 minutes on snapchat at a time!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of expiring social content is pretty unique and I love that we can share content with one another and it disappears after 24 hours. It doesn't shock me that on average people spend 30 minutes on Snapchat daily, I actually thought the average would be higher. While I think Snapchat has a cool concept and I can see potential growth I'm still not sure I agree with their valuation.
ReplyDeleteI think the scariest part of disappearing content is not knowing where it's stored. Like the files have to go somewhere. With increasing concerns with privacy laws, it will be interesting to see how snapchat and other developing technologies in this realm adapt to change.
ReplyDeleteExpiring media content is an interesting idea but like Elyse says above me, the storage of all this content is dangerous. There have already been breaches of the "expired" content but people still are willing to send very private moments over snapchat.
ReplyDeleteSnapchat is exceeding everyones expectations. The expiring content idea is original and it's doing well for them. Why stop what's working?
ReplyDeleteExpiring content definitely seems to be making a comeback. I remember when Snapchat first came out, it was huge, but it seemed to die out pretty quickly. Over the last few years, it's made quite a comeback. Maybe that was just my group of friends, though. Or maybe just me; I hardly ever open Snapchat.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny, though, how people really believe their snaps are gone forever after they expire. As others have been saying, all that information goes somewhere and stays there. Snapchat better invest in good cyber security because if expired Snapchats get around, they'll have a big PR problem.
Expiring content is a good way for people to share something or get a message across without having to worry about the clutter of maintaining all those images and videos. It can also be a very useful advertising method if done properly. I can only see expiring content use increasing with time. The storage of this content can be dangerous though.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point of view. I definitely think that Snapchat is valuable. I still have a hard time believing it is $25 billion valuable. But hey! Maybe they'll prove me wrong. It definitely is a fun and engaging app.
ReplyDeleteSnapchat is growing and I don't really see it going away anytime soon. Expiring content is a great way to keep everyone engaged and at the same time wondering what their friends are up to.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree. I don't think snapchat will disappear any time soon. The largest user group of snapchat is millennials, but generation Z is right behind, and both of these generations are going to continue to use this app for a long time in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI really like the memes you used. Made me laugh :)
ReplyDeleteEven though it may not be an ideal situation for Snap Chat, I think it is ingenious how Instagram is replicating Snap Chat's features. It allows them to capitalize off of their competitive advantage and stay relevant.
ReplyDelete