One has to feel somewhat bad for Snapchat, an app that can only really be described as that movie star that was really famous in the 1990s but just stopped landing roles when younger, more popular performers come along that tested more positive with younger audiences. That feels like the case now that TikTok is the dominant short-video creation app that people are using, Snapchat has been battling to retain the audience it established when it first launched. It’s not giving up yet though as the company is looking into experimenting with content viewable outside of the app itself.
It used to be that Snapchat hosted publicly-viewable content, such as publisher videos and original shows, exclusively through the app. The decision to maybe broadcast this out to platforms that aren’t Snapchat could maybe drive up some extra buzz for the dying social media platform. Speaking to Axios, a spokesperson for Snapchat stated, “We’re always exploring ways to make it even easier to view Snapchat’s engaging and topical content and share it with your friends,” suggesting that this move will encourage more people to at least view the content Snapchat is producing.
This won’t affect private Snapchat messages sent between friends and will only apply to content that’s meant for mass-consumption. The aforementioned publisher videos, original shows and “Our Stories”, which is run and produced by Snapchat, have always been shareable within the app but this experiment will mean life outside of those walls as they could be shared anywhere potentially. They’ll work with installed web browsers to open and won’t require the app itself to be installed.
Making its original content, which as reportedly been well received by Snapchat users, more accessible to those outside of the app might be the thing that saves the business especially now that TikTok is experiencing all its own woes around operations in the US.
(Source: Engadget)
