Snap will roll out an update to its social media app which will turn back some of the changes it made in 2017, following backlash from users.
Not long after revealing disappointing Q3 results in 2017 and promising to rebuild its app, Snapchat’s parent announced it is separating “the social from the media”. Essentially this meant communications with friends were bunched together and separated from Stories by publishers and professional creators.
In a blog post, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel explained blurring the two channels had contributed to the rise of fake news.
However, in February 2018 around 1 million people signed a petition asking Snap to roll back these changes because they made the service hard to use.
Now, in a new update, all Stories – photo-essays which expire in 24 hours – will appear on the same screen, and Snaps and messages sent by friends will be in chronological order again.
However, Stories will still remain separate from other branded content.
On Snap’s Q1 earnings call last week, Spiegel had mentioned the company was “now focused on optimising the redesign based on our ongoing experimentation and learning.”
While Snap saw some gains at the end of 2017, the first quarter of 2018 came with a larger net loss.
Comments