Snapchat Introduces Our Story Feature
Photo Messaging App Takes Step Towards Profits
Snapchat has been pushing forward at a breakneck pace this year. Following investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer’s decision to invest in the ephemeral photo and text messaging service at a valuation of around $10 billion earlier this week, the service has introduced a new ‘Our Story’ feature to the app.
Despite having no revenue as of yet, the decision by one of Silicon Valley’s biggest venture capital firms puts Snapchat among the most valuable apps on the market – making their decision to reject a $3 billion buy-out by Facebook last year as highly prescient and validating predictions made earlier this year.
The Our Story feature has been tested at the Electric Daisy Carnival, the World Cup in Brazil, and the Lollapalooza music festival. While initially it could only be viewed by attendees of those events, Snapchat has expanded the feature so that anyone can view snaps submitted from particular events.
The service works by using the location function of a user’s phone to ensure that they are actually at the event, and then allowing them to post snaps to the event’s Our Story in the same way that they would to their own My Story. While it’s unclear exactly how submitted pictures and videos are vetted for publishing on the event’s stream, we can assume that there is some kind of oversight; the stream of the recent Electric Zoo event contained no inappropriate material, which considering the fact that it was put together by a few thousand twenty-somethings at a rave means that there must be a fairly heroic editorial team behind the scenes.
The update seems to be the next stage in Snapchat’s gradual crawl towards profitability. It’s easy to see how the insertion of ads into these event streams could happen, or how the events themselves could pay to be broadcast to Snapchat users. The company has also allegedly been in talks regarding a new service called Snapchat Discovery, which would deliver content from media outlets to users.
The Our Story update seems to be popular, with over 350 hours of snaps being submitted over the course of those events associated thus far. Considering that more people now in engage in the My Story feature than with the original user-to-user messaging service which forms the basis of the app, it’s a fair prediction that this new aspect will be a significant part of the app’s functionality going forward.
Even if the feature does garner the mass engagement which Snapchat has made itself know for (although not in too much detail – the company still refuses to release exact user data) it all still remains to be seen if it’s enough to push the app into profitability.
Douglas is an English Literature graduate who has written about everything from music to food to theatre, now a content creator for Social Media Frontiers. No topic too large or too small. Follow him @DouglasAtSMF.
Contact us on Twitter, on Facebook, or leave your comments below. To find out about social media training or management why not take a look at our website for more info http://socialmediacambridge.co.uk/.
Snapchat Introduces Our Story Feature
![]()
Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
Rating:
Anonymous
Keeping you up to date on social media, digital marketing, apps, news & reviews. Social media, and digital marketing as a whole, are rapidly and constantly changing, adapting to new developments at an ever increasing rate. Just keeping up to date can be a nightmare. Our team of writers know their field, and keep an ear to the ground. We aim to keep you informed of all recent developments in the online world, and teach you a little something along the way. So whether you just want to stay connected, or gain some knowledge for yourself, the Social Songbird will keep on singing! More articles are posted every day so keep checking back! Join the discussion on Twitter - #SocialSongbird Or contact us directly - @SocialSongbird_
Entrepreneur, international speaker on Social Media Marketing. First one in the UK to write and speak in conferences about Twitter as a marketing tool. Consultant to Corporate Companies, Government Organizations, Marketing Managers and Business Owners.
Aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He hopes to one day drop that 'aspiring' prefix. He started as a writer and soon after he was made Executive Editor and Manager of the team at Social Songbird. A position he held for 5 years.
Adrienne is a passionate writer with experience in editing, content creation, and social media marketing. She’s a lover of animals, helping others improve their writing, and 2000s pop culture.
Musician, audio technician, professional tutor and a Cambridge university English student. Interested in writing, politics and obsessed with reading.
Recently graduated with a BA in English Literature from the University of Exeter, and he is about to study an MA in Journalism at the University of Sheffield. He is an aspiring journalist and novelist; in his free time he enjoys playing chess, listening to music and taking long walks through nature.
Lucy is an undergraduate BSc Politics and International Relations student at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Anna Coopey is a 4th year UG student in Classics at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is a keen writer and researcher on a number of topics, varying from Modern Greek literature to revolutionary theory.
Ellie is a recent BA English Literature graduate and aspiring publisher with a passion for writing. Her favourite pastimes include reading and shopping.