Now you see me, now you don't see me

A ghost has been installed on our mobile phones for a few years now and today we are going to introduce it to you: Snapchat.

what is Snapchat? It is an application that allows you to send photos and videos with a maximum duration of 10 seconds to whoever you want, after whichthe content disappears. You can also post this content in history, where all your contacts can see it for 24 hours, or import the content from your gallery. In addition, the camera has recently been equipped with filters that transform and disguise the videos and photos of users.

This social network was launched on 1 September 2011 and developed by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown, three students at Stanford University. But it was not until around 2015 when it became a boom, with 70% of its users under the age of 25. Today Snapchat has more than 100 million active users every day.

Snapchat is an ephemeral network

What makes this application special and different is that it does not work like other social networks. For example, you can see who adds you, but you cannot see how many friends you have in total. In addition, it can only be accessed via a mobile device or tablet.

Here we are going to talk about two Snapchat use cases.

The first one is about how La Casa Batlló in Barcelona, a sensational work by Antoni Gaudí, has been seduced by this digital ghost and has started to advertise content through Snapchat. It is the first and only cultural institution in Spain. This allows the museum to let its users see things that are not visible to everyone. It also gives them a more casual and modern style. In order to reach their audience, they spread it through the rest of their social networks, Instagram or Twitter. In addition to the integration of the Snapchat logo in all digital or printed promotions and advertising.

this network will allow the company to reach a younger audience, i.e. teenagers, as most teenagers migrate to Snapchat because it is an application in which they cannot find their parents. It also provides them with greater security because they have control of the content and can see who sees that content.

Another case of Snapchat's use was in journalism, more specifically by the journalist Yusuf Omar, editor of the Hindustan Timemedia . He had the idea of using Snapchat filters so that victims of sexual abuse in India could report it anonymously. To do this, he interviewed two teenagers, in the form of a selfie and using the filters to tell their stories without fear of being recognised. This is how an app and filters helped to make such serious and real real realities public.

So we can conclude that we are at the beginning of a potential platform such as Snapchat, which can provide many opportunities and experiences for both journalists and companies, in addition to the personal entertainment it provides.