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Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

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Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#151

Post by overcast »

Vraxx wrote: post #147
overcast wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if I take the example from above regarding two people in a relationship. It IS nice, in my experience, to have a running dialogue with pictures available from our relationship. There are plenty of great moments I've received that I would prefer not to just disappear.

I also agree with the sibling post on this one, but another line of reasoning is that when texting pictures or other forms of sending, the default option is that the photo is saved. When using snapchat it's the opposite. Screenshotting allows you to keep it if you want, you can replay it if you missed it, but if it's not anything exceedingly special or worth keeping, it is discarded. In todays world I find myself wit…

I guess I just hold photos I want to keep at a higher value than a screenshot of an already poorly compressed / altered photo. Whatever works for you!

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#152

Post by mathattack »

heavenlyhash wrote: post #143

1.8B. 1,800 Million, right? Stop me when the math goes wrong. Divided into bundles of 200k: 9000x. Let's say each member of a team costs 200k/yr. High for some, low for others, whatever. 1.8B dollars is enough money for a team of OVER NINE THOUSAND people. What... exactly is taking that much effort, here? What is this money fueling? I honestly boggle to imagine.

I suspect it's for a lot of other things: Advertising, technology (HW & SW), customer support, paying off initial investors, space, etc.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#153

Post by repler »

gjolund wrote: post #131

The only real value of Snapchat is that now I dont have to scroll past the innane content snapchat is used for on other social networks. Im not going to say snapchat is or isnt worth $20b. I am going to say that I am sad that so much energy and money is being thrown at such a trivial application. Im a software engineer, and i like solving real problems. I cant imagine working at snapchat and trying to motivate myself…

It's not useless. It is actually the premier communication platform for emotional content at the moment.

Think about that.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#154

Post by shostack »

argonaut wrote: post #35

People need to stop focusing their criticism on how stupid the app is or how they're going to lose all their users. It's almost a meme by now of how people say this every time Snapchat is brought up. By now it's a foregone conclusion, and requires active ignorance and not really caring to keep an open mind, to continue to hold onto that belief in the face of tremendous evidence that 1) Snapchat is very popular, 2) Sn…

The monetization piece is interesting, because unlike FB, Snapchat has been all about privacy and anonymity from day one. Their recent ToS change makes it clear that this might not always be the case, and I'm really curious to see how their users react as they get more and more aggressive on monetization.

The core functionality doesn't necessarily require the network effect to be useful, unlike Facebook, so there is theoretically less reason to stick around if the monetization ramp-up negatively impacts the user experience.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#155

Post by ulfw »

ramenmeal wrote: post #146
gjolund wrote: post #131

The only real value of Snapchat is that now I dont have to scroll past the innane content snapchat is used for on other social networks. Im not going to say snapchat is or isnt worth $20b. I am going to say that I am sad that so much energy and money is being thrown at such a trivial application. Im a software engineer, and i like solving real problems. I cant imagine working at snapchat and trying to motivate myself…

What about snapchat is useless? Or is this just typical "damn kids these days" speak? The app is an incredible form of communication, and there is a reason people prefer it to other mediums.

What's incredible and different about it at the tune of 20 Billion USD?

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#156

Post by repler »

bqe wrote: post #28

Can someone who uses Snapchat routinely tell me why you use it routinely? I've been using it for a few weeks to send a picture or two to the few people I know who use it, but it seems pretty limited. I follow a few "famous" people on it, and they basically just post random images of them walking around NYC or them traveling. I don't yet see the benefit.

It is currently the best method to communicate emotional content. Think about how lacking every other platform is in that regard.

Facebook just recently released watered down emoji reactions. Snapchat has it made - they have infinite emojis. You just make a face and hit send.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#157

Post by macandcheese »

Snapchat is the medium that most closely represents a real life conversation - between individuals, between friend groups, between performers & fans, etc. That's why it's popular and will continue to be so.

The beauty of Snapchat is that you don't need to think about what you are posting: It's ephemeral, it's kept close to the vest (you choose explicitly who sees it), and above all, it's without reservation. I don't consider the appropriateness of my content because I choose exactly who receives it, just like how in real life you probably speak differently around your friends than you do your co-workers, or your family, without really thinking about it.

Snapchat provides a medium for users to share content without the baggage of social validation that other networks like Twitter and Facebook are beholden to (intentionally and unintentionally). Nobody can see how popular your content is but yourself, and you control the reach down to the individual. No other content network is like this.

Plus, you can draw bunny ears on people.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#158

Post by OJFord »

repler wrote: post #153
gjolund wrote: post #131

The only real value of Snapchat is that now I dont have to scroll past the innane content snapchat is used for on other social networks. Im not going to say snapchat is or isnt worth $20b. I am going to say that I am sad that so much energy and money is being thrown at such a trivial application. Im a software engineer, and i like solving real problems. I cant imagine working at snapchat and trying to motivate myself…

It's not useless. It is actually the premier communication platform for emotional content at the moment. Think about that.

It may well be being used as such, it doesn't make myself or the parent commenter any less depressed by it.

In re "is this just 'damn kids these days' speak", no, I suppose I'm one of them. But if a picture's worth my while then don't make it arbitrarily temporary; if it isn't don't send it at all.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#159

Post by gjolund »

ramenmeal wrote: post #146
gjolund wrote: post #131

The only real value of Snapchat is that now I dont have to scroll past the innane content snapchat is used for on other social networks. Im not going to say snapchat is or isnt worth $20b. I am going to say that I am sad that so much energy and money is being thrown at such a trivial application. Im a software engineer, and i like solving real problems. I cant imagine working at snapchat and trying to motivate myself…

What about snapchat is useless? Or is this just typical "damn kids these days" speak? The app is an incredible form of communication, and there is a reason people prefer it to other mediums.

What exactly are people communicating?

If snapchat shutdown tomorrow would anyone actually care, or would they immediately shift to the next best platform?

Compared to say a public utility, car manufacturer, global shipping company, etc.

There are real problems in the world, and snapchat doesn't solve any of them. There are real companies trying to solve these problems, and snapchat is worth more than most of them.

Our obsession with "incredible forms of communication" is in reality just a VC fueled gold rush capitalizing on the current flavor of the week.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#160

Post by gjolund »

nostrademons wrote: post #141
gjolund wrote: post #131

The only real value of Snapchat is that now I dont have to scroll past the innane content snapchat is used for on other social networks. Im not going to say snapchat is or isnt worth $20b. I am going to say that I am sad that so much energy and money is being thrown at such a trivial application. Im a software engineer, and i like solving real problems. I cant imagine working at snapchat and trying to motivate myself…

You have to understand, though, that most people in the world are not software engineers and interacting with their friends is one of their favorite things to do. The essence of business is solving problems that are important to other people with solutions that are interesting to you.

Like I said, I am glad that those people have a sandbox to "interact" in. Do you honestly think that sandbox is worth $20b?
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