Snapchat is one of the most secretive companies in the world and recently, it has been failing.
From the dwindling number of users to missteps like the launch of the Snap Spectacles, the company hasn't been doing well since its IPO. Now, a leak of Snapchat's internal metrics has shed light on how well the company has been doing lately.
Leaked Internal Metrics Don't Lie
The leaked data contains daily active user metrics from April 2017 to September 2017. It shows information from features in the app, including Snap Maps, Discover, Memories, Geofilters, Lenses, Chat, Audio, and Stories.
Most people seem to use Snapchat for sending messages and photos to their friends, and not much else. Despite the features it boasts, the app's usage is down since the launch of the new add-ons.
Snap Maps was added in June, and at the height of its usage, Snapchat gained more than 30 million users. By September, this number fell to 19 million.
It was supposed to give a glimpse of the users' location, so people can meet up with them. This feature also showed popular snaps from specific locations.
Snapchat Has 178 Million Daily Users
Snapchat boasts 178 million daily users and this has caused the company to rethink its design and rework it in order to make Snap Maps more prominent. With the redesign, Snapchat hopes to attract more people to their Discover page.
Discover page features new stories and daily programming from websites like Refinery 29, The New York Times, and Buzzfeed. This feature reaches its high point at 38 million users, still only a fraction of the daily users. Snapchat has declined to provide publishers DAU numbers, opting instead to emphasize its 178 million daily active users.
Snapchat is currently struggling to grow its user numbers and their stock prices have been dropping. Ad buys for Snapchat suffered a huge dip after a survey found that 96 percent of ad buyers would prefer to buy ads on Instagram.
A Mere Messaging App
Usage of the app shows that people are treating Snapchat only as a messaging app. Its core users, who are 18 to 24-year-olds, see it as addicting, but older users see it as disorienting.
Users have also been using the app simply for communicating with friends. Data shows that in August, 64 percent of users were more likely to send a snap to a friend than post to Snapchat Stories. However, users did send an average of 34 messages per day.
