Once again, Snapchat has updated the look and feel of the popular social media app. As frequently is the case, change is not welcome to those who become attached to one way of doing something.
If you are active on any social media platform other than Snapchat itself, there has been no hiding the past two weeks from the wealth of complaints. Snapchat’s most recent update is certainly a significant one, but it is nothing new for the company to make changes like this.
Ever since Snapchat’s inception in 2011, the app has gone through multiple staggering changes. The changes began with the name itself, starting out as Pictaboo, instead of Snapchat. After about a year of the app being available and the name change to Snapchat, the craze started to catch on.
For a large majority of the app’s existence, it allowed users to send still picture messages, with only one line of text, for up to 10 seconds. That format itself has altered completely since the beginning stages.
Today, users can send pictures and videos, with multiple lines of text and can make the messages available for as long as they want. Although these changes may have been welcome to many, no change comes without some backlash.
In 2013, the app added stories, a feature where users could add pictures and videos to their profiles for up to 24 hours. Once again, this was a welcome change to many, as the app continued to evolve.
Fast forward to 2015, when Snapchat added the Discover tab. This feature gave users the ability to check out stories from various platforms like CNN, ESPN, Daily News, etc. This addition was considered annoying by many, but users would eventually get used to it.
Ever since that 2015 update, it seems like each time Snapchat decides to update the app, users tend to complain. In 2016, when video calling was added, people complained that it had no place. In 2017 when SnapMap was added, people complained that the feature was creepy and should be taken off.
In comes 2018, when Snapchat altered how stories are viewed, causing a major uproar once again. The newest update features friends stories directly next to their name in the messages tab. Thus combining both the snap feature and story feature.
Justin Sillner, an admissions counselor at Cabrini University, helps to manage the Office of Admissions Snapchat profile. He cited that the new update initially saw a decrease in viewership for the profile, but the numbers are starting to rise again.
“At first, we lost a good 30-40 viewers per story,” Sillner said. “Now that everyone is getting adjusted to the change, the views are starting to come back to where they once were.”
Over one million people have signed an online petition calling for Snapchat to revert back to the old format. Unfortunately for those Snapchat fans, the chances of the company reverting the app back to the last version are slim. As long as people continue to use the app, nothing is going to happen.
“I haven’t even updated the app yet because of how many negative things I’ve heard,” Melissa Hefferan, a sophomore early education major, said. “I like how the setup is now and I’m planning on hanging on to it as long as I possibly can.”
Like past updates, in a few weeks, everyone will most likely forget that the changes even took place. The first few weeks of the update will be strange and feel weird to many, but after some getting used to, it will feel normal.
“At the moment, I am not a fan of the changes,” Victoria Vernon, a freshman secondary education major, said. “It mixes stories up and shows me ones I don’t really care about.”
