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Social subscription Snapchat+ is already faring better than Twitter Blue
Snapchat’s recent move into premium subscriptions has gained a bit of traction in its first weeks on the market. Though the social app maker just last week reported a disappointing…
Snapchat’s new ‘Director Mode’ will help anyone become a video creator
In its ongoing battle with TikTok, Snap announced today it’s launching a new feature called Director Mode, aimed at providing easier access to Snapchat’s native creative tools for publishing video…
Snap’s new AR tools turn photos into 3D assets, let retailers use Snap’s AR tech in their own apps
At Snap’s Partner Summit on Thursday, the Snapchat maker announced a number of new initiatives focused on using its AR technology to aid with online shopping. Most notably, the company…
Snapchat? Trying to profit off of its TikTok clone? Say it ain’t so.
At Snap’s quarterly earnings call yesterday, CEO Evan Spiegel revealed that Snapchat is testing ads on Spotlight, its TikTok competitor. Though Spiegel hedged that this testing is limited, it affirms…
Snapchat is growing faster than Facebook and Twitter
Snap released its first quarter financial results for 2022 today, affirming that it’s growing faster than its fellow U.S.-based competitors Facebook (now Meta) and Twitter. Meta reported its first loss…
Popchew cooks up creator partnership approach to digitally native, local food brands
With Popchew, creators can build, launch and grow their own local food brands in a matter of weeks.
Snapchat will introduce revenue sharing on ads in creators’ stories
Once an ephemeral messaging app, Snapchat is trying to solidify itself as a platform for creators to turn a profit. Today, Snap announced that it plans to introduce mid-roll advertisements…
Snap upgrades its AR Shopping features with real-time pricing, more product details
Snapchat is upgrading its AR shopping experience today with updates to both to the Shopping Lenses inside its social app as well as to the analytics shared with Snap’s brand…
Snapchat knows you want to see what you’d look like in the metaverse
Snapchat released an Avatar lens AR filter today, which makes you look like a Sims character. Or, in more modern parlance, it makes you look like what you’d look like…
Spotify tests a TikTok-like vertical video feed in its app
TikTok has seen its short-form video feed copied by a host of competitors, from Instagram to Snap to YouTube and even Netflix. Now it looks like you can add Spotify…
Snapchat launches Memories and Explore Layers on Snap Map
Snapchat announced earlier this year that it would add Layers to Snap Map, making the social product more interactive. Today, the app is launching its first two layers: Memories and…
YouTube and Snapchat were asked to defend their apps’ age ratings in Senate hearing
YouTube and Snapchat were asked by lawmakers to defend whether or not their respective social media apps were appropriately rated on the U.S. app stores, given the nature of the…
Snapchat revamps creator payouts by offering chance to win prizes with Spotlight Challenges
As competition for creator talent heats up, Snap today introduced a series of new tools, programs and features that will enable creators on its platform to generate revenue. These include…
If you’ve started using Snapchat more regularly this year, you’re not alone. At yesterday’s Q2 earnings call, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced that the platform grew both revenue and daily…
Following lawsuits, Snapchat pulls its controversial speed filter
Lately, Snapchat’s 3D Cartoon lens has been all the buzz, making all of our friends look like Pixar characters. But since 2013, a staple filter on the ephemeral photo-sharing app…
Instagram’s TikTok rival, Reels, rolls out ads worldwide
Instagram Reels are getting ads. The company announced today it’s launching ads in its short-form video platform and TikTok rival, Reels, to businesses and advertisers worldwide. The ads will be…
At Snap’s Partner Summit, the company announced a number of updates to the company’s developer tools and AR-focused Lens Studio, including several focused on bringing shopping deeper into the Snapchat…
Snap brings partner-centric Layers to its social map used by 250 million people
Snap wants users to get a more personal view of the world around them. While products like Google Maps and Apple Maps have long-relied on data partners to juice the…
Snapchat permanently bans President Trump’s account
Quite a bit has happened since Snap announced last week that it was indefinitely locking President Trump’s Snapchat account. But after temporary bans from his Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts…
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COVID-19 made our tech addiction worse: It’s time to do something about it
Governments are no more likely to help manage unhealthy tech consumption than consumption of sugar or illegal drugs. We need to take control.
Twitter is partnering with Snap to bring tweets into Snapchat with a native integration that both companies hope will push users away from screenshots and toward more interactive embeds. Twitter…
Snapchat launches a TikTok-like feed called Spotlight, kick-started by paying creators
After taking on TikTok with music-powered features last month, Snapchat this morning is officially launching a dedicated place within its app where users can watch short, entertaining videos in a…
Week in Review: Snapchat strikes back
Hello hello, and welcome back to Week in Review. Last week, I wrote about the possibility of a pending social media detente, this week I’m talking about a rising threat…
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4 quick bites and obituaries on Quibi (RIP 2020-2020)
In memory of the death of Quibi, here’s a quick sendoff from four of our writers who came together to discuss what we can learn from Quibi’s amazing, instantaneous, billions-of-dollars failure. Lucas Matney looks at what the potential was for Quibi and how it missed the mark in media. Danny Crichton discusses why billions of…
Report says Quibi lost 92% of its earliest users after free trials expired
The Independence Day weekend was a big one for Quibi — it was time to see how many of their earliest subscribers would convert from free users to paid subscribers.…
