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Is it really wildly inept though? I truly cannot wrap my head around what value Snapchat brings the world, outside of maybe yet another way to ultimately advert

Is it really wildly inept though? I truly cannot wrap my head around what value Snapchat brings the world, outside of maybe yet another way to ultimately advertise to young people. Just to be clear I'm not saying you're wrong, I just don't get it.

empath75 10y ago
To be fair, selling crap to young people is a totally valid business model. I just don't see any evidence that snapchat can do it.
- JBlue42 10y ago
  Can you ELI5 this for me? I've worked since I was 16, and sure it was pure profit, but I still feel like adults should have a bit more disposable income. It's something I've always wondered about with the movie industry and it obviously seems to be the groupthink across the board about young kids.
  - shalmanese 10y ago
    There's a golden period between the time when your parents are making financial decisions for you and when you make your own financial decisions where your habits are in flux. If an advertiser can reach you during that time and convince you to change behaviors, they've locked in a lifetime pattern. Pretty much everyone, for all but the few things they care about, once they form a habit, will continue on that habit until some event is big enough to jolt them out of it. Once you've decided what kind of cereal you eat and shoes you wear and car you buy, it's exceedingly hard for advertisers to reach you and change your mind. That's why 18-35 is such an important demo for advertisers.
remarkEon 10y ago
>outside of maybe yet another way to ultimately advertise to young people. Yes, but this new way requires the target to physically engage with the ad. The sponsored filters allow quite a bit of personalization, which seems to be something young people want more of. Not really a heavy Snapchat user, but I think it's helpful to think of them as an advertising platform instead of a disappearing photo company. I do, however, share your "who cares" gut reaction to all of this.
adiabatty 10y ago
"auto-deleted pictures and videos so you can send them to your friends en masse and they don't need to be all that good" (and we show video ads every so often when you're watching loads of others' snaps) I'm a fan.
- king_magic 10y ago
  But that's really worth $20 some billion dollars?

empath75 10y ago

To be fair, selling crap to young people is a totally valid business model. I just don't see any evidence that snapchat can do it.

JBlue42 10y ago
Can you ELI5 this for me? I've worked since I was 16, and sure it was pure profit, but I still feel like adults should have a bit more disposable income. It's something I've always wondered about with the movie industry and it obviously seems to be the groupthink across the board about young kids.
- shalmanese 10y ago
  There's a golden period between the time when your parents are making financial decisions for you and when you make your own financial decisions where your habits are in flux. If an advertiser can reach you during that time and convince you to change behaviors, they've locked in a lifetime pattern. Pretty much everyone, for all but the few things they care about, once they form a habit, will continue on that habit until some event is big enough to jolt them out of it. Once you've decided what kind of cereal you eat and shoes you wear and car you buy, it's exceedingly hard for advertisers to reach you and change your mind. That's why 18-35 is such an important demo for advertisers.

remarkEon 10y ago

>outside of maybe yet another way to ultimately advertise to young people. Yes, but this new way requires the target to physically engage with the ad. The sponsored filters allow quite a bit of personalization, which seems to be something young people want more of. Not really a heavy Snapchat user, but I think it's helpful to think of them as an advertising platform instead of a disappearing photo company. I do, however, share your "who cares" gut reaction to all of this.

adiabatty 10y ago

"auto-deleted pictures and videos so you can send them to your friends en masse and they don't need to be all that good" (and we show video ads every so often when you're watching loads of others' snaps) I'm a fan.

king_magic 10y ago
But that's really worth $20 some billion dollars?