Snapchat is the new TV
Snapchat introduced a new feature called Discover yesterday and it hit me: Snapchat is the new TV. Let me explain before you mentally call me an idiot.
Television is a passive medium that sends moving pictures and sounds to an audience (the people who “tune in”). Snapchat has become exactly that through Stories and Discover.
Stories are public-access television. Anyone who knows your username (channel number) can tune in everyday and see what pictures and sounds you’re sending. They have to tune in to see your “story,” 24 hours later it’s gone.
Discover is network television. There is a limited number of channels you can access, with fresh content (a mix of video, images and text) everyday — you can’t view yesterday’s content of course, you have to tune in. You don’t need to know the username (channel number) they’re easily accessible in the Discover tab (TV guide of your cable box).
“Our story” (like college football or the blizzard) pioneered what Discover is. They are the best way to follow an event. You feel like you’re there. During the world cup they would show people get ready at their hotel, heading to stadiums and celebrating. Snapchat was doing all the work for you (curation), all you had to do was tap your screen and enjoy the show. Exactly like TV.
While it started as a messaging platform, Snapchat has become much more. Even if you’re not planning on communicating with anyone, you should still check it out. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up creating your own show on public access… uh… I mean story.
Update (Feb 8, 2014): below are articles that make similar points.
Oh, and I found out since I wrote that article that Snapchat is launching a “web” series in discovery…
