Today Snapchat launched “Discover” – a new feature that allows the user to view photos, videos, mini articles and advertisements from top media channels including CNN, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, ESPN, Food Network, Nat Geo, People, Vice, Yahoo! News and Warner Music Group. A few of the channels start up with a nice little advertisement (very smart and I’m sure expensive) such as the BMW logo on CNN or Ritz with Food Network. Each channel then contains 6-9 articles or videos that can be easily swiped through or swiped up to read more. The channel is refreshed after 24 hours encouraging users to check in daily for the most recent information.
Also in the update, users can easily add friends by pointing their camera at the ghost on top and tapping their screen. Snapchat also removed the best friends feature, which showed the top three people each username snapchatted. Many took to social media sites such as Twitter to complain about the missing feature, upset that girls (and guys) can no longer see who their significant other is snapchatting the most.
I think Snapchat has done a great job adapting itself since its launch in 2011. From My Story, to video chatting and global Snapchat stories – which are my favorite. I love being able to watch people’s quick personal videos or pictures at events from around the world. Discover will finally give Snapchat a way to make money as they will share ad revenue with their new media partners. I anticipate many more media channels knocking on their door hoping to gain a spot on the new feature.
Already I am very impressed with Discover. I think it’s the perfect way to get information to a younger generation that’s been too caught up in posting the perfect 10 second selfie than reading a newspaper. Snapchat wrote in the description on the app, “It’s the result of collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts narrative first.” With a combination of sports, food, entertainment, news and more, Discover pertains to many interests and audiences of all ages, bridging the gap between the traditional news generation and young technology driven generation.
Morgan's Minutes 
Full disclosure: I am a baby boomer, was raised with 4 TV stations (if you count PBS), grew up with a morning and afternoon daily newspaper, and watched the nightly news at 6:30 (no 24/7 news coverage back then). In short, if you wanted news you either has to read (gasp), or watch TV at 6:30. OK, I get it, today we have sound bites, news 24/7 on more channels than you can name, live coverage when it happens (often from cell phones), and better access to information than ever in human history. Is this better, most likely so. But, where are we going as a society when the young adult (and my guess is 20’s 30’s and others) want their news in 10 second sound bites. I’m sure this is better for advertisers (more clicks), publishers (fewer words), and writers (easier to write for 10 seconds than 1000 words). But how much news can you really get in 10 seconds; can you understand the story, hear both sides, read in-depth about the background, history, implications, and viewpoints? Can you have an intelligent conversation after only 10 seconds? Do we really want future leaders making decisions with 10 seconds of news? When someone can figure how to digest the New York Times into 10 seconds, then call me. For now I will pass on Discover, thank you.
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