
Snapchat Is Becoming Like the Internet It Disdains - sidhanthp
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-08-07/snap-earnings-company-is-becoming-like-the-internet-it-disdains
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ralston
I agree with the general sentiment of the article: "In order to make money,
Snapchat is doing things it previously scorned"

This is particularly saddening for me because I remember back in 2011/12
(around that time) I _desperately_ wanted an Iphone so that I could do one
thing - download Snapchat. I wanted a totally new/expensive phone to do one
single thing - use Snapchat. Sure I was 19, and it was slightly known as the
sexting app but man oh man, there was this sort of aura of mystery surrounding
it. It was literally the "coolest" app in my peer group (hell, in my age group
at the time). It was soooo difficult to search for people, so you had to know
their user before you could add them. It was as if the app was so public
(sharing pictures that could be screenshot), yet so private (you tended to
only add people you knew, and the porn accounts).

It's slightly funny to watch Evan Speigel still think that he knows whats best
for Snapchat (e.g., the UI changes, monetization). He makes his changes now
and tells the users to shutup and deal with it (bad idea). Now that I'm older,
everyone I know still uses the app, but not nearly as much, and it's not
nearly as "cool" or fun. It seems to be just another app on our phones now -
not "the" app.

But in some ways I understand Snapchat's changes. Those servers, engineers,
creatives, and yellow bikes cost money. You can't pay for an office lease in
Venice Beach with "cool" points. However, with that said, I do think Snapchat
went overboard with the monetization efforts. They followed in the footsteps
of Google, Facebook, etc - not knowing that they were so much cooler and so
much more fun than anyone else. And in trying to monetize, they ruined the
experience, and thus the app. The "scale" thing [ _gives Reid Hoffman a side
eye_ ] doesn't _always_ have to apply to _everything_. Sometimes just having
an amazing app that does what it does is ok - the partnerships, click bait,
and "publishers" be damned.

RIP Snapchat. The only app I've ever bought a brand new to device for.

