Snapchat has redesigned its Live Stories and Discover sections through a recently released update, a move that changes the way users view content that are provided by publishers.
The two sections have been made more user friendly with a more seamless experience through the new design. Publishers, however, are likely just as happy with the new look, as their content is given more time to be on the spotlight.
The Discover section of Snapchat, seen as one of the most lucrative digital newsstands, now looks more like a magazine, with media partners such as CNN, People and Cosmo getting large pictures and headlines compared to the small circles in the past.
Less than 30 publishers have been invited to send in content to Snapchat's Discover, with some companies already pulling out of the feature such as Buzzfeed, Fusion and Yahoo. There are several publishers such as The Onion that will soon be getting in to Discover, though, and they will do so at just the right time.
"With the product change, it takes things to the next level in really allowing us to showcase a little bit of a teaser of the look and feel of what's to come in that edition," said Tastemade head of programming Oren Katzeff. With the redesign, the content is showcased more, compared to the past when it was much more difficult for users to access the stories.
With the redesign, users will be given the option to subscribe to publishers by pressing and holding on a story and tapping on the subscribe option. The subscribe button is also shown at the end of stories. Once a user subscribes to a publisher, the company's stories will appear in the Recent Stories section of the Snapchat app.
The goal of the redesign and the incorporation of a subscribe button is to get Snapchat users to view more content from media partners, alongside the content generated by other users. Publishers will now be locked in a race to grow their subscriber numbers on the app, as the metric would become an important one if Snapchat decides to push through with plans of an algorithmic feed for users similar to Facebook.
Snapchat has been steadily improving its user base, with a recent report claiming that 150 million people are using the app daily. This means that Snapchat has beaten Twitter in that department, as the social media platform only has 140 million daily active users.
