Snapchat reaches a new high with reports of 10 billion video views per day as the users have started using videos as an important means of communication, alongside messaging and photo-sharing.
The messaging app has been constantly striving to introduce new features to keep its users interested and entertained. It is now being used increasingly to create videos and not just consume them, leading to the reported additional 2 billion views in April, from 8 billion reported in February.
That's a commendable number for an app that was started by Stanford grads in 2011, which was meant for use among friends. The shared photos and videos will self-destructible after a few seconds - a feature that has contributed heavily to the success Snapchat enjoys today. Since it frees them from the worry of awkward pictures and videos getting misused by the fans, public figures like Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have also taken to this ephemeral app to reach their fans.
Users can either send their videos that will disappear after being read or watched, or they can upload their videos on Snapchat Story where the post can gather views for 24 hours.
The very design of the social app acts as its strength, helping the company carve a niche for itself in the market dominated by big players like Facebook. The social network leader has recently introduced Facebook Live, encouraging viewers to post their views and experiences on this platform and has even hinted at monetizing this feature that tops Facebook's priority list this year.
Going by the reported numbers, a lot of people are opining that Snapchat is totally crushing Facebook in the videos arena, but the fact is the companies use different measuring standards to count their views. Facebook counts its views and videos auto-play after 3 seconds while Snapchat counts the view immediately after someone starts watching a snap. So Facebook's report of 8 billion daily views in November 2015 may be misleading for comparison purposes.
Snapchat is currently valued at $16 billion, has a 500-million user base that is still growing, and almost 100 million users who spend an average of up to 30 minutes on the app every day. The company is also known to have turned down Facebook's $3 billion buyout offer in 2013.
Photo: Adam Przezdziek | Flickr
