You know how important social media is and you have a loose – very loose — grasp on Twitter and Instagram, but does Snapchat make you feel dumb, farsighted and… old?
That’s by design! But in an attempt to capture the olds, of which there are many, Snapchat rolled out a major revamp designed to make the app more accessible to a mainstream (read: aged) audience in November 2017 — and people were furious.
The update essentially separated out personal social content from professionally produced content, “putting best friends first and dividing them from professional publishers” as TechCrunch put it.
As summarized by TechCrunch, this is what the update did exactly: It put all messages and Stories from friends to the left of the camera, sorted by who users talk to and view most. It revived auto-advance, so users can watch everyone’s Stories in a row, but with best friends, not people who post the most, listed first. And it put to the right of the camera all premium publishers, professional social media stars a user follows and aggregated stories from search and Snap Map in the Discover section.
By personalizing and highlighting relevant content, Snapchat content would presumably be easier to consume, thus encouraging new users. Instead, fury resulted.
Snapchat users have left the app bad reviews, complained on social media, turned to Instagram and signed a Change.org petition entitled “Remove the new Snapchat update.”
The petition didn’t list any specifics regarding the changes Snapchat users hate, but it said the update is “annoying” and has made “many features more difficult.” It asked Snap, Inc. to “change the app back to the basics.”
As of February 13, 2018, the Change.org petition had over 800,000 signatures. Today, it has almost 1,224,000.
According to TechCrunch, this user backlash is reminiscent of the one Facebook faced years ago when users rebelled (rebelled!) over the addition of News Feed — which, incidentally, was ultimately a success.
Snapchat posted an official response to the petition yesterday, reiterating its staid stance but also promising a few tweaks that may help to address users’ concerns. Here is the response in full:
FEB 20, 2018 — To Nic and all of the Snapchatters who signed this petition,
We hear you, and appreciate that you took the time to let us know how you feel. We completely understand the new Snapchat has felt uncomfortable for many.
By putting everything from your friends in one place, our goal was to make it easier to connect with the people you care about most. The new Friends page will adapt to you and get smarter over time, reflecting who you’re most likely to be Snapping with at that moment. This same personalization is also true of the new Discover, which will adapt to you the more that you use it.
Beginning soon on iOS, and with Android in the coming weeks, we are introducing tabs in Friends and Discover, which will make it easier to find the Stories that you want, when you want them. Once you receive the update, you’ll be able to sort things like Stories, Group Chats, and Subscriptions, allowing you to further customize your own experience on the app.
This new foundation is just the beginning, and we will always listen closely to find new ways to make the service better for everyone. We are grateful for your enthusiasm and creativity. We are very excited for what’s ahead.
Love,
Team Snapchat
I myself am included in the demographic of “olds”/over-30 that Snapchat is attempting to connect with via this update, and I certainly appreciate their attempt to meet my needs (read: lure me into using their platform). I honestly probably never will use Snapchat, but following the drama is extremely illuminating.
In terms of behavior and potential consumption – thus, marketing and connection – patterns, it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Image via Silvia Cosimini.
