Snapchat Takeover
The innovative app called Snapchat changed the way we communicate when it was launched in 2011. At first it was just an app where users could send pictures to friends and it would disappear after a couple seconds. Fast forward 9 years and you can virtually do anything on the app. Features includes sending videos, text messages, phone and video calls, filter lens, stories, memories and more! Snapchat has become an all-in-one app basically eliminating the need for various other apps. This social media app has about 210 million users, most of which exist in the 13-29 year old age group. Since the original launch in 2011, other social media apps have started to compete with Snapchat. Instagram now has "Stories" where users can post a picture or video and it will delete after 24 hours, the same thing as Snapchat. Facebook has also created Stories on the app to stay in the competition.
The success of Snapchat can be looked at through the theory of diffusion of innovation. This theory was invented by Everett Rogers who was a professor of communication studies. According to Rogers, the theory has 4 components: the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and social system. The innovation of the app "Snapchat" is the innovation itself. The adopters of this app were everyone who downloaded it and started using it everyday. The communication channels used by Snapchat were word-of-mouth, promotions on the App store and other social media sites making it possible for diffusion to happen. One of the founders of Snapchat said that a reason why this app became successful in a such a short amount of time is because the users (typically young people) liked the idea of a social media app where their posts wouldn't come back and haunt them because it disappears. By 2014, videos, chatting, Stories, and geofilters were brought to the app launching it even further. Now in 2020 it is one of the most used social media apps in the world. That would be the time component in the theory of diffusion of innovation. There was also a large social system at play in the success of Snapchat. External and internal influences like users, promoters, and relationships with partners/employees all helped influence potential users.
There are also categories of adopters related to the diffusion of innovation. One category is early adopter and people in this category have a higher social status, some financial liquidity, education, and are socially forward. I think that many people who used Snapchat became early adaptors because this app had everything you could possibly need and more. People knew this app would become a hit so they stuck with it. It allowed you to send and receive pictures, messages, and videos that would disappear and you wouldn't have to worry about it coming back in the future. It also gave users a way to post something for everyone to see at once to show others what they were doing. While the app has been wildly successful, there can be some consequences. It stays true that once you send something on the Internet it is there forever. Snapchat creators probably did not account for people using their phones to "screenshot" pictures and messages which can become a disaster very fast. Also, other social media apps have discovered how to add similar elements and become direct competition with Snapchat. Overall, Snapchat has become a life changing app for communication and follows the diffusion of innovation theory invented by Everett Rogers.
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