Why Snapchat’s Latest Update Will Change the Way You Get News
Hold your phone (and maybe take a video) because Snapchat just had a stormageddon all its own. The photo + video messaging app just got attacked with a news blizzard courtesy of its brand spankin’ new features and we are totally all about it.
Released today, Snapchat Discover is a fresh way to explore Stories ranging from sports to entertainment to breaking news organizations. While it’s hilarious to share your funny faces or ridiculous nights out with your friends, a side of actual news in your social media diet is good too (we’re all about a balanced diet). With Discover, Snapchat users are able to natively read and watch stories in the most visually interesting way possible (sorry, Twitter, it may be time for us to breakup…).
Discover stays true to Snapchat’s Stories template as editors from publications like National Geographic, Comedy Central, ESPN, The Food Network and more upload the biggest headlines in narrative form daily. Each outlet is then completely refreshed every 24 hours — because who wants to be talking about yesterday’s news today, right?
To explore stories on Discover you open an “edition” (that’s what Snapchat is calling each outlet, FYI), then swipe left to browse the publication’s Snaps or swipe up on a Snap for longform content (video + text). Snapchat is claiming Discover is not “social media” and we totally get what they mean by that because Discover is essentially 2015’s answer to an RSS feed (does anyone remember those?).
We’re totally head over heels about the Discover tab (you did notice we threatened to break up with Twitter, right?), but we do have a few things we want to see in a future update. Our main WTF moment came when we realized you can’t share Stories with your friends (WHAT?! Twitter, you win this one ;) Also, as more outlets join Discover we would like to see a personalization feature where you can place all your faves, like a Myspace Top 8 so to speak.
Regardless of those two Discover dreams, we totally think Snapchat just put the smack down on its rivals and just may have changed the game on how millennials will consume news from now on. Snaps for you, Snapchat ;)
Will you be ditching other social or news platforms for Snapchat Discover? Let us know in the comments.