Snapchat Creeps Toward Its Death

The+Snapchat+app+icon+on+an+iPhone.+Many+people%2C+including+Kylie+Jenner+and+Rihanna%2C+have+expressed+dissatisfaction+with+Snapchat+recently.+

Julia Moses

The Snapchat app icon on an iPhone. Many people, including Kylie Jenner and Rihanna, have expressed dissatisfaction with Snapchat recently.

Marisa Lopez, Staff Writer

Snapchat’s recent update put users in a state of disbelief after drastically changing the app’s interface. Many users complained, taking to Twitter to express their contempt. Though it has been a month since the update, the company has received backlash in other areas. Is Snapchat failing?

After the update, Kylie Jenner — one of the most prominent celebrities in the Western world — tweeted, “Does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me.” Jenner’s tweet led to Snapchat stock losing 1.3 billion dollars. Jenner hasn’t been the only celebrity to send Snapchat’s stocks downhill. This past week the company’s stock lost 800 million after Rihanna responded via Instagram about an offensive ad featured on Snapchat. The ad, titled “Would you rather?,” gave users the options to “slap Rihanna” or “punch Chris Brown.”

 

The new, and overwhelmingly unwelcome, Snapchat update, coupled with the backlash from prominent celebrities, leaves the future of the app in question. Since the app’s start in 2011, users have loved the ease and overall casualness associated with it. For many, it is their primary form of communication with close friends. Given that the update has been in full swing for a month now, are users still rejecting the new interface?

Ellie Rothman, an SPS first-year, said she’s gotten used to the app, but that doesn’t mean she likes it.

“I wasn’t just going to completely stop using Snapchat,” Rothman said. “It’s how I talk to most of my friends. I guess I just kind of accept it now […] Even though I sometimes find myself clicking the app and hoping it’ll be back to the old layout.”

People also complain about the mingling of private and personal snaps. The new layout puts user stories and personal Snapchats all in one place, versus the old layout which kept the two separated.

“It seems like Snapchat is trying to get us all to send an embarrassing picture to someone we added in middle school,” LS first-year Hannah Finger said. “I still use the app, but I’m extra careful when pressing send.”

LS sophomore René Bennett said he feels like the update focuses too much on the celebrities and news section.

“I could care less about all of that,” Bennett said. “Just let me use this app to send captioned pictures of myself, the whole reason this app exists in the first place. I can get my news elsewhere.”

Despite being annoyed with the update, Bennett says he’s gotten used to it by now.

Regardless of how many people hate the app’s update, it is clear users find themselves continuing to use Snapchat. Perhaps the company will learn from this rocky month and proceed with caution. We can expect them to be more careful of ads in the future. Will they listen to users and change the interface? Maybe not.

 

Email Marisa Lopez at [email protected].