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This. IMO Snapchat is very hard to use for any kind of business application since it has no discoverability whatsoever. My wife has 90k+ followers on Instagram

by tucaz 10y ago

This. IMO Snapchat is very hard to use for any kind of business application since it has no discoverability whatsoever. My wife has 90k+ followers on Instagram and started using Snapchat up to the point where she had 4k+ views a day. When instagram launched the new stories thing she started using it slowly and has pretty much stopped using Snapchat now. I always told that for her use case Snapchat wasn't a good fit because there is no way other than entering the username or scanning a qr code for her to be found and you have to rely on people not being lazy to add you. Anyway, I still can't understand why hasn't Snapchat added some sort of search or trending profiles yet.

beambot 10y ago
Maybe this is why Snapchat is so popular: Because you don't have a shit-ton of businesses targeting you to cram ads down your throat?
- snug 10y ago
  Then how do they make money? If they are going public then they will need to satisfy their investors, not their users.
  - ReverseCold 10y ago
    They sell sponsored filters, iirc Snapchat is already profitable.
    - monkmartinez 10y ago
      Heck yeah, The wave of the future is filters of selfies! Ranks right up there with Insulin, Oil extraction, Bridge construction, Mining, and more! Who would've thought?
      - shostack 10y ago
        You'd be surprised then to learn that Line makes $270M/yr on stickers. Think of these as fashion items. Trend-driven, fleeting, and a way for people to make statements about themselves. Many here might not have much interest in fashion, but there's no denying it is a massive industry. As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value as virtual fashion goods. The interesting thing is the business model because right now advertisers foot the bill, not the consumer.
        pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        If like me you've never heard of Line, it seems to be a series of apps around standard comms (like WhatsApp, etc.) and device theming. https://line.me/en/family-apps https://line.me/en/family-apps
        Larrikin 10y ago
        It is the most popular form of phone communication in Japan and has expanded pretty aggressively into South East Asia as well
        xiaoma 10y ago
        Really? I did some traveling in SE Asia last year and was under the impression that LINE had failed everywhere in SE Asia except for Thailand.
        Merem 10y ago
        Line is also really/extremely popular in Indonesia and Taiwan.
        xiaoma 10y ago
        I know it's big in Taiwan, the place I've spent most my adult life. Taiwan is not in SE Asia, though. Also, I believe BMM is the dominant chat app in Indonesia.
- tucaz 10y ago
  It makes sense and that's very acceptable strategy to follow. But, at some point everybody has to offer a way for business to work with them so they can earn some money, isn't that right? Unless Snapchat is not after money...not now at least.
- Balgair 10y ago
  Bingo. But the bone is cooked with the steak. Eventually, the VCs will want a return on the cash, and then you need to have customers that want to use snap-chat. There are 2 options then: Turn it into a paid service that you pay to use, or turn on the ads. I think we all know that most kids aren't going to pony up to use snapchat, so ads it is. They have to turn on the ads, and then, as the marketers are the customers, their voices become the most important. Eventually, all the VC cash is eaten away and snapchat is yet another photo-sharing service with a 'community' and some lite blogging/captioning attached.
  - arkitaip 10y ago
    I'm calling it now: Snapchat adding discoverability features in a few years is the beginning of the end.
  - guelo 10y ago
    The IPO is the liquidity event for the VCs. After that it's the shareholders left holding the bag.
    - Balgair 10y ago
      You really think so? If that is the case, why the long delays in IPOs? You'd think that a 'pump-n-dump' scheme would be more profitable then. Provided that you cannot be implicated in this via many shell companies.
      - jyrkesh 10y ago
        Their CEO seems to think so. According to this, he's been racing to IPO all along: http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-ceo-evan-spiegel-we-need-to-ipo-2015-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-ceo-evan-spiegel-we-...
  - randycupertino 10y ago
    > But the bone is cooked with the steak. I've never heard that expression before! Of course googling it I get a million steak recipes. Can you explain what it means?

by tucaz 10y ago

beambot 10y ago

Maybe this is why Snapchat is so popular: Because you don't have a shit-ton of businesses targeting you to cram ads down your throat?

snug 10y ago
Then how do they make money? If they are going public then they will need to satisfy their investors, not their users.
- ReverseCold 10y ago
  They sell sponsored filters, iirc Snapchat is already profitable.
  - monkmartinez 10y ago
    Heck yeah, The wave of the future is filters of selfies! Ranks right up there with Insulin, Oil extraction, Bridge construction, Mining, and more! Who would've thought?
    - shostack 10y ago
      You'd be surprised then to learn that Line makes $270M/yr on stickers. Think of these as fashion items. Trend-driven, fleeting, and a way for people to make statements about themselves. Many here might not have much interest in fashion, but there's no denying it is a massive industry. As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value as virtual fashion goods. The interesting thing is the business model because right now advertisers foot the bill, not the consumer.
      - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        If like me you've never heard of Line, it seems to be a series of apps around standard comms (like WhatsApp, etc.) and device theming. https://line.me/en/family-apps https://line.me/en/family-apps
        Larrikin 10y ago
        It is the most popular form of phone communication in Japan and has expanded pretty aggressively into South East Asia as well
        xiaoma 10y ago
        Really? I did some traveling in SE Asia last year and was under the impression that LINE had failed everywhere in SE Asia except for Thailand.
        Merem 10y ago
        Line is also really/extremely popular in Indonesia and Taiwan.
        xiaoma 10y ago
        I know it's big in Taiwan, the place I've spent most my adult life. Taiwan is not in SE Asia, though. Also, I believe BMM is the dominant chat app in Indonesia.
tucaz 10y ago
It makes sense and that's very acceptable strategy to follow. But, at some point everybody has to offer a way for business to work with them so they can earn some money, isn't that right? Unless Snapchat is not after money...not now at least.
Balgair 10y ago
Bingo. But the bone is cooked with the steak. Eventually, the VCs will want a return on the cash, and then you need to have customers that want to use snap-chat. There are 2 options then: Turn it into a paid service that you pay to use, or turn on the ads. I think we all know that most kids aren't going to pony up to use snapchat, so ads it is. They have to turn on the ads, and then, as the marketers are the customers, their voices become the most important. Eventually, all the VC cash is eaten away and snapchat is yet another photo-sharing service with a 'community' and some lite blogging/captioning attached.
- arkitaip 10y ago
  I'm calling it now: Snapchat adding discoverability features in a few years is the beginning of the end.
- guelo 10y ago
  The IPO is the liquidity event for the VCs. After that it's the shareholders left holding the bag.
  - Balgair 10y ago
    You really think so? If that is the case, why the long delays in IPOs? You'd think that a 'pump-n-dump' scheme would be more profitable then. Provided that you cannot be implicated in this via many shell companies.
    - jyrkesh 10y ago
      Their CEO seems to think so. According to this, he's been racing to IPO all along: http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-ceo-evan-spiegel-we-need-to-ipo-2015-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-ceo-evan-spiegel-we-...
- randycupertino 10y ago
  > But the bone is cooked with the steak. I've never heard that expression before! Of course googling it I get a million steak recipes. Can you explain what it means?