9 highlights from Snapchat CEO’s 6000-word leaked memo on survival

Adults, not teens. Messaging, not Stories. Developing markets, not the US. These are how Snapchat will make a comeback, according to CEO Evan Spiegel . In a 6,000-word internal memo from late September leaked to Cheddar’s Alex Heath, Spiegel attempts to revive employee morale with philosophy, tactics, and contrition as Snap’s share price sinks to […]

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Why unskippable Stories ads could revive Facebook

Prepare for the invasion of the unskippables. If the Stories social media slideshow format is the future of mobile TV, it’s going to end up with commercials. Users won’t love them. And done wrong they could pester people away from spending so much time watching what friends do day-to-day. But there’s no way Facebook and […]

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Facebook was never ephemeral, and now its Stories won’t have to be

Before Snapchat made social media about just today, Facebook made it about forever. The 2011 “Timeline” redesign of the profile and keyword search unlocked your past, encouraging you to curate colorful posts about your life’s top moments. That was actually an inspiration for Snapchat, as its CEO Evan Spiegel wrote in its IPO announcement that […]

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The only people left in my Snapchat feed are two Snap employees

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Opening Snapchat lately feels like peering into the back of a dark, old wardrobe, and finding nothing but dust. 

I still receive the odd enjoyable one-to-one or group Snap, but Snapchat’s desolation shows, badly, in the stories feed.

It’s no secret that Snapchat is losing out to Instagram. Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users, while Snapchat has 191 million. That’s fewer monthly active users than even the amount of stories that Instagram says its users create every day: 300 million.

Those gargantuan numbers are only comprehensible in comparison (where else is 191 million small?) But I can make sense of them on a personal level, too, because my own small social media universe reflects the morbid story that they tell.  Read more…

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With the emoji slider, Instagram just took story polls to a whole new level

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How hot is the newest Instagram feature going to be? You’ll have to ask your friends on the app to weigh in — and now, you can.

Instagram announced a new interactive story feature today called “Emoji Slider.” It’s a sticker that story posters can put on photos or videos, and allows their followers to answer questions using an emoji that slides along a scale.

Emoji Slider is similar to the polling sticker, but allows for a wider range of responses.

This is gonna be yuge.

This is gonna be yuge.

Image: Instagram

The new feature is part of the Instagram version 44 update, downloadable in the App Store and Google Play. Read more…

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Snapchat is testing a new ‘tabs’ layout to make navigation easier

Snapchat is finally redesigning its redesign. 
The messaging app is testing multiple new layouts of both its “Friends” and “Discover” pages. Specifically, it’s testing variations of “tabs,” the feature that the company announced in February.&#16…

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Snapchat is reportedly testing a new tagging feature

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Instagram and Facebook are no longer the only places you can tag your friends in embarrassing photos.

Snapchat has confirmed to TechCrunch that it is testing a new feature that allows users to tag others in photos and videos.

The feature was first disclosed by Twitter user Matt Rappaport on Thursday. 

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Snapchat is quietly testing a hands-free mode and new, full-body camera lenses

Throw your hands in the air, and wave them like you just don’t care…because Snapchat is now quietly testing a hands-free mode.
SEE ALSO: Snapchat’s Snap Maps is now available online
The latest Snapchat beta app (version 10.27.0.18) lets users take …

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