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…
I don't think making movies is trivial. It has a large effect on culture and really at the end of the day, as humans, all we have that's uniquely ours is culture (for various broad definitions of the term). Think about how much Sci-Fi movies, novels, and similar ideas contributed to our drive to go to the moon - as a society, not just a country.
Snapchat affects culture, and really what's more powerful and impactful than that? It gives people an ability to tell their story in interesting ways. It gives people a platform for expression. You get a brief, unique glimpse into someone’s actual life from anywhere in the world. This ability to affect culture isn’t unique to Snapchat by any means, there are lots of things out there that affect culture in unique, interesting ways but I don’t think their effects can be understated or written off.
I think the crux of the issue is, people have a narrow definition of "solving problems". The "problem" has to be clear cut with a clear outcome otherwise it isn't a "real problem". But I don't agree with this type of thinking.
There's something Steve Jobs said in a talk that’s stuck with me ever since. Here’s the quote: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come and Disney has a monopoly on the storyteller business. You know what? I am tired of that bullshit, I am going to be the next storyteller”.
The rest, as we all know, is history. And really, he has a point. Just look at Facebook’s effect on global culture. It’s incredible in its pervasiveness. We’ve entrusted the group of people building Facebook to drive this effect on culture at a scale we’ve never seen before. It’s a huge responsibility and they have to balance it with business interests which as you can image is very very hard.
But to write off something with such a large, global scale is incredibly short sighted. We underestimate the effects of these things on our lives greatly.
Look, I’m not a Snapchat shill by any means. I don’t even use the product that much. But I try to understand it, and part of understanding the product is understanding the impact. Put aside the nature of the product for a minute, forget that its a photo sharing app, though that is a simplification. Think about just the scale of the application. The scale is absolutely crazy and I’d venture to say that any product with that kind of scale, engagement, and usage patterns WILL have a large impact on culture. As a Software Engineer, that is incredibly exciting to me but at the same time I see it as a very unique responsibility. We need good people building these types of products who understand the full extent of the consequences of what they’re building. The alternative, is not great.
Now whether you think the people at Snapchat have these best interests at heart is a whole different topic of discussion, but I’m tired of people writing off these huge software phenomenon as “just a photo app with no value”. That’s a lazy sentiment and I’m calling you out on it buddy!