The Rise of the Snapchat Celebrity
Snapchat is big, we’re talking $4 billion big. This follows a trend of recent years with Social Media exploding that has seen successful IPOs from Facebook and Twitter, a buyout of Tumblr and even Google getting involved with Youtube and Google+. It’s fairly safe to say that in the developed world everyone uses social media, it’s where news breaks first, it’s where people communicate and how things go viral. (It’s probably equally safe to say we’re witnessing the beginning of a massive tech bubble, but that’s a topic for a different day)
Even more recently we've seen the youth of today moving away from Facebook where their parents can see everything they’re up to and more onto newer anonymous, ephemeral based social media platforms like Secret, Whisper and Snapchat. These companies have been raising lots of money at high valuations signalling very bright futures.
Social Media platforms go through the phase of massive growth and if they can cope, they then look to build out new features allowing for companies, celebrities and your parents to get involved in all the fun. I believe we are now at this stage with Snapchat, it is still a relatively lightweight app without typical social media features built in. The introduction of Snapchat Stories will have been the first foray into this brave new world (And also the first steps into making advertising a viable option on the platform).
Snapchat Stories also made a key change in how people are using Snapchat, it is no longer an app which you open when you receive a notification, it is an app that you can scroll through when you’re bored, just like Twitter, Instagram and all the other social media apps. Other newly added features include text messaging and video calling, could this once again change the way we perceive Snapchat and make us spend more time in the app because of it?
My friends tell me that famous stripper Chelsea Ferguson is getting big on Snapchat (‘sedgyfergo’) with her stories seeing regular daily views in the millions (according to her twitter account @Chelsfergo) of her advertising what clubs she will be hitting that night (My friends tells me, I promise). I have also added ‘Shonduras’ on Snapchat after a recommendation in a TechCrunch article, who is an absolute genius at colouring in and manages to turn snaps into art. I believe that companies and celebrities alike won’t be able to ignore this user base for much longer.
I think that just like on Twitter and Facebook, Snapchat may soon see verified accounts and the ability to follow accounts as well becoming friends with them. This would allow celebrities to show fans little glimpses into their personal lives like no other social media account allows. Vine has done similar things with @DapperLaughs rising to fame from Vine alone.
Just like Secret is starting to see news stories break from anonymous sources, I envisage a future where celebrities announce updates on Snapchat and heat magazine quote celebrities’ snap stories as sources for their gossipy articles. These short videos wouldn't be able to be air brushed like the front cover of vogue (well, it depends how steady your finger is) but it deletes after a day right? Sure fans will screenshot in their thousands but I can see celebrities taking the plunge. Imagine if a member of One Direction tweeted his Snapchat and then took short videos of behind the scenes on tour, that would be enough to kick off a revolution, I'm not sure if Snapchat’s servers will be up to the job just yet but I believe it is only a matter of time.
Some companies in America have already started exploiting Snapchat to advertise products and competitions. Hell, even the Philadelphia Eagles American Football team and the University of Michigan are publicly on Twitter. The revolution is already happening, Snapchat will become the Twitter of video, which just happens to delete after 10 seconds. How many people actually search the archives of people’s Twitter accounts though? Most people don’t go back more than a day anyway. Vine was somewhat thrust upon us and is linked to people’s Twitter accounts Snapchat already has the user base and celebrities and companies will see that as a potential to engage with followers and build their brand.
This will be a win for everyone involved: Snapchat will see more people spending more time in their app, celebrities will be able to build their personal brand by offering exclusive insights into their personal lives, and users will be able to see interesting content that isn't just coming from their friends.
The only question left is who will be the first A-list celebrity to take the plunge and allow the public a true insight into the real story of their lives, one snap at a time.
