The Photo Sharing Brand Explores Uncharted Territory

It is no secret that Snapchat is a leading pioneer in driving social media innovation. Snapchat was the first social media platform to brand themselves on the concept of sending picture and video content for a set amount of time.

Since then, Snapchat has continued to bring inventive concepts to the application. Though initially Snapchat users were slow to embrace some of Snapchat’s innovative ideas, they prove to have had a profound effect on social media. Now, as the company looks to probe new avenues of social innovation, they have found themselves once again making social media history with Spectacles. Branching into more than just the “chat” aspect of photo sharing, Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel is looking to rebrand the company to Snap Inc. to encompass the growing product line.

Memories and Stories 

The leading social media brand began on the concept that users could share photo and video content with each other for a set amount of time. Since 2011, Snapchat has introduced multiple innovative ideas that have forever changed the way that users broadcast their daily activities. Originally, the application’s main use was to send and receive “limited time” pictures with your friends. However, Snapchat has been resilient and adaptive to the competitive social media field.

Before the invention of Spectacles, Snapchat has had introduced multiple profound innovations. In October 2013, Snapchat debuted “My Story”, which allowed users to post live content to their  account stream for their followers to see. At first users were off put by the foreign concept of using the application to share content to all of their followers. The Snapchat audience adapted quickly though, using the application to share any and all aspects of their daily life.

The Snapchat “My Story” was just the first innovation that the company would implement to move the brand away from the singular “chat” focus to the multi-product communication application committed to assist users in sharing their content with their friends, wherever they may be. This is where Snapchat Memories is born.

Snapchat Memories was introduced in 2016, letting users use the Snapchat application to document photo and video content and re-upload the footage through “My Story” to their followers. Both of the new concepts drive for a personal approach to social media. Snapchat has taken the user experience from just another “chatting” platform to an extremely personal memory sharing platform. The application’s purpose serves something much more meaningful than just interacting with other users, it now serves as a benchmark in social media innovation.

The New “Snap Inc.”

With the substantial growth and innovation of Snapchat’s brand over the past three years, it is understandable that the brand sees this as time to rebrand. Snapchat’s brand has seen extreme success in the social media and content sharing world. Though My Story and Memories still fall under the same umbrella, the new Spectacles product employs the brand to look into a new name, Snap Inc. Spectacles are built with a wireless camera, letting users tape their experiences with a 115 degree field of view, which is much wider than that of a smartphone camera. The goal is to provide the user with an experience that is “recording from the human perspective.” In a recent Snapchat blog, co-founder Evan Spiegel says “Now that we are developing other products, like Spectacles, we need a name that goes beyond just one product.”

Snap Inc. hopes to improve memory documentation with the new product, asking users to imagine a device enabling you to “…go back and see that memory and the way you experienced it…” Renaming the brand to encompass the expansion and product development hopefully sheds light on future innovations to come from the social media platform.

Snapchat has had a much more profound effect on social media than individuals are aware. The way individuals share their everyday experiences has forever changed with the innovations that Snapchat has debuted. The app use is now based around “memory sharing” with your followers instead of communication. Social media can only expect bigger changes as the brand becomes more inventive in the field, forever changing the way that individuals share a memory.

Related:

https://blog.bufferapp.com/snapchat-memories

http://mwpartners.com/snapchat-is-now-the-third-most-popular-social-network-among-millennials/