This morning, Snapchat released a blog about its latest feature, ‘Discover’, which everyone working in social media marketing has been waiting with bated breath to see what exactly this thing is all about.
Unitl now, the platform has kept its functions pretty close to its original form, with users sending and sharing videos and images in a way that feels more personalized, like a social inbox. With ‘Discover’ Snapchat has made an entrée into the world of publishing now with a handpicked selection of publications and creates a “new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams.”
That Snapchat has decided to center its Discovery feature around publications and not around its own users is quite notable. But that’s because Snapchat is perhaps no longer seeing itself as a social media company.”Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular. We see it differently. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important,” said Snapchat in the post.
The language here implies that Snapchat’s self-image is not in the same league as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Now, with ‘Discovery’ and has firmly positioned itself on the side of the publisher, and with that, in Snapchat’s hopes, advertising money.
“This time we built the technology to serve the art: each edition includes full screen photos and videos, awesome long form layouts, and gorgeous advertising.”
For all the dismissive talk around Snapchat’s first ad units, this one is clearly going to change the conversation.
