Snapchat brought joy in the world. Incredible facial filters, sharing experiences with followers in minutes and engaging with celebrities on another level.
Although it was seen as one of the top video apps in the world, Snapchat’s reputation is slowly but surely dwindling. Ever since the dreaded update that basically redesigned the entire app and made it even more difficult to use, millions of people around the globe are outraged and signed online petitions to hopefully get Snapchat to change their minds.
Sadly, the CEO Evan Spiegel didn’t take kindly to the request. In February, Spiegel said: “You do need folks to use the product, to communicate with their friends to learn how to better provide that feed. The tech to some degree is a solved problem, the time… to learn is a hard problem to solve.”
Stating that the celebrities we see are “not our friends” and after using it for a couple of months, we’ll get used to the update – well, it’s been a while and people are still not happy. The Discover page, for example, now features local ‘public figures’ you follow or even friends who don’t follow you. However, as you scroll further down, you’d notice a series of celebrities and other people who you probably don’t like. And as much as you click the ‘see less like this’ option, more and more people appear on your page, which kind of renders the entire thing pointless. Especially if you’re looking for a specific news outlet or magazine which doesn’t always appear on your home page.
Another problem is finding your friends. There’s a new setting that allows you to tap a circle next to your friends’ names which allow you to see their stories. But now you have to scroll through a ton of people to find out if certain people have updated or not. Not everyone chats on Snapchat, so it’s a little weird to accidentally tap on a name and chat immediately.
Other than the annoying search which would probably mean less views on your snaps, everything else is pretty much the same, including the World View Page. However, Snapchat’s problems didn’t end there. Social media star Kylie Jenner wasn’t impressed with the new update and tweeted all about it. Rumours circulated that their shares fell. Although she may have influenced the usage of Snapchat slightly, it wasn’t as excessive as Snapchat losing over a billion dollars. The statistics mainly point at the ridiculous redesign. And by the way, Jenner still uses the app.
More troubles fell on Snapchat though after they OK’d an ad – one that asked users to choose between slapping Rihanna or punching Chris Brown. And you know Rihanna doesn’t let things slide.
The singer took to Instagram to voice her concerns: “I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!” She wrote on her IG story. “You spent money to intentionally bring shame to DV (domestic violence) victims and made a joke of it!!!”
Rihanna also urged followers to get rid of the app and there’s no doubt that many did. Just days later, Chrissy Teigen, who was well known for using the app, decided to cancel Snapchat as well, stating that “the update, the constant complaints of people not being able to find me, plus the Rihanna poll” led her to dumping the app as well.
With all these celebrities actively showing their dislike for the app, who’s to say the world won’t follow?
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