How Snapchat is becoming responsible for keeping young people informed

Snapchat, really?

Full disclosure, when I first found out what Snapchat was and began using it, I did not foresee it having any staying power. To me, the idea of sending photos with text on it seemed a little goofy when you already had the ability to send a photo through text.

Well, fast-forward to four years later when I’m using the app every single day. It’s become one of the main ways I stay in contact with friends, and it’s become an interesting source for news.

Discover this

Snapchat’s “Discover” component of the app offers daily news stories from a number of outlets including Buzzfeed, CNN, and National Geographic. Because they offer easy-to-digest news pieces, millennials that utilize the app see it as a main source for staying updated on current events.

University of Iowa senior, Madeline Benjamin, says she starts each morning by looking at the news articles on Snapchat. “I don’t know if they thought this would take off the way that it did, but some [users] look and some don’t,” said Benjamin. “It’s one of the little things in life I look forward to everyday.”

Informatively entertaining

While Benjamin says that she reads the articles mostly for pleasure, she did also mention that it is her go-to source in general and will read any politically related article that Snapchat offers. Because this social media platform is used mostly by millennials, it could be argued that Snapchat has a responsibility to continue providing current events for their audience.

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Though it is a fun app for staying in touch with friends and using cool filters, younger users would definitely benefit from the informational aspect of it. Most of my friends in their early 20s are clued into what’s going on in the world, but don’t always read the traditional news because they complain that it is too dry or too biased.

Updates for Snapchat

“Maybe it is something that Snapchat should recognize that people really love,” Benjamin continued. “Millennials who are busy or bored may not be inclined to subscribe to something like the New York Times, but will read through stories on their Snapchat feed.

Snap, Snapchat’s parent company has announced they will be filing an IPO for Snapchat – one of the biggest social media IPO’s since Facebook.

#Snapnews

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