Thursday, March 2, 2017

Snapchat filters are allowing users to live in an alternate reality


“Hey, let's send… a Snapchat!”

Picture: A selfie taken in Puerto Rico with Patty Kohn '19 and Aidan Mulderrig '20 before dinner.


        The new modern form of communication that you find most teens and young adults using is Snapchat. This app allows consumers to send pictures of themselves to friends in a fun form of a text message but with emotion and the ability to engage friends in a conversation. Snapchat has evolved from just being able to send another person a picture using the front- and rear-facing cameras. In recent years, the company has added many successful features, such as the ability to send messages which you can either let disappear or save, notifying the other user.




Here are three of my past snap stories From L to R:
 Saint Michaels College Library, leaving Bostons Logan Airport using the Boston filter that was available. The third was an altitude filter placed on Nordic Skiier Liam Schmelzle '19 during a race in Stowe.



            Snapchat’s major overhaul in 2015 allowed the app users to put filters on their pictures which has caused the usage of the app to increase significantly. The app allowing for users to interact with an almost virtual reality of themselves proves entertaining for the person taking the picture and the viewer. The app service allows you to not only send your creation to one person, but you can  send it to as many friends as you would like. Snapchat stories have allowed thousands of users to share what they are doing with their friends in a fun and creative way. This encourages people to keep others involved in their life while not having high levels of commitment.

The company has recently developed their version of the Google Glasses. The Spectacles are an ingenious and fun way to incorporate the Snapchat app and filters into our everyday life. These glasses come in three different colors, which are Black, Coral and Teal. They come in a bright yellow carrying case that is the same color of the Snapchat app icon and allows you to charge the device. These glasses have a camera on the right side lens which can connect directly with the app on your phone and allow you to view a snapchat on your phone from either vertical or horizontal positioning.


Here is a video giving a quick introduction into Spectacles and their mode of purchase.


               Snapchat’s marketing strategy for their video recording glasses has been excellent. They have been placing a Snapbot, which is a large yellow vending machine with has a large eye in different cities. There are the three buttons to select the different colors and a touch screen to finish the transaction. They have been very successful with setting peoples’ expectations by positioning them as a “toy.” The company has also created a perceived demand by dropping the machine somewhere and creating long lines with customers posting on social media such as Instagram and Facebook which has led to them selling out quickly. This has created a lot of free press for them in the media because they have to do minimal advertising.

These pictures depict two different users of Spectacles and how the colors work well with people of any gender and race.

         In the future, I think that Snapchat will continue to be very successful. In the past month they have offered an IPO for their stocks for 17 and they have begun selling at $24. This 41$ jump in their market debut has been influential and not something consumers and investors have seen recently among the tech industry. I am an avid user of Snapchat, usually snapping 10-15 people at a time, and it allows me to feel involved with others who are living in other countries on study abroad.

-Don't forget, although we may think sending a Snapchat may be private to our friend, the media is uploaded onto the deep internet.  Thank you for reading my third post! I hope you have learned something about Snapchat and some of the products they offer. 
Best-- Jake

Edited by- Anna Meusel, and Jacob Sutton

Written by- Jacob Sutton

Media and Information provided by:
https://www.spectacles.com
http://www.recode.net/2016/11/20/13688096/snap-snapchat-spectacles-marketing-success
https://www.thefactsite.com/2016/06/snapchat-facts.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-live-updates-snap-ipo-snapchat-company-starts-1488471580-htmlstory.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/snapchat-parent-snap-opens-higher-in-market-debut-1488471695

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