The history of Snapchat

Snapchat is a social media video and photo messaging app. The history of Snapchat is actually very fascinating. Like other social media sites and applications, Snapchat was created by a small group of college students from Stanford University. Three college students conceptualized this application and figured out how to turn their idea into a reality. This app is now one of the most popular messaging applications used today.

The personal touch

Across between a social media site and a messaging system, Snapchat allows users to take short video clips or still pictures, then add their personal touch. These personalisations include emoticons, text, and even clip art. The user then sets access to the “snaps” and those who have been given approval can view the snaps for a predetermined period of time. Videos are generally in 1 – 10 second increments, meaning that only short bits of communication can take place. Many people utilise the video function to send brief messages that cannot be conveyed by a simple picture.

The figures

The interesting thing about the history of Snapchat, is that it began in the brains of three college students, and is now one of the most popular messaging applications in the world. There are reports that estimate that some 700 million snaps are shared every day. That’s an immense amount of photo and video data. Giving the company an estimated valuation of between $10-20 billion dollars – not bad for a few college students.

Controversy

Not without controversy, Snapchat has found itself in proverbial hot water on a number of occasions. First, there were legal suits over ownership with one of the co-founders. Later, Forbes magazine revealed that images on Snapchat were still accessible even after the determined duration of sharing had expired. One needed very little computer skill to be able to access people’s “expired” photos, leading to concerns about privacy and data security. Despite these controversies, the app has continued to grow in popularity and use.

The video sharing app allows users to share pictures and short video clips with a select group of other users. These pictures are only available to said list of users for a predetermined period of time, before they are deleted from the system. This popular messaging app has become the application of choice for many who use Skype or Facebook Messenger, citing the convenience and ease of application use, as well as the host of additional features.

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