I consider myself an early-adopter. I always try to at least test out new technology, especially if it's what "the kids" are using. But with Snapchat I had a strong reaction of "this is dumb, screw this, I'm too old for this". Plus, no one I knew used it. I guess that makes me old now.
I'm not sure why so many of us don't "get" Snapchat. Really it just corrects one of the biggest "features" of social apps: that they're essentially public-facing, permanent popularity contests. On Snapchat, every picture and chat message self-destructs by default, so there's less social pressure to post something truly extraordinary. There's no publicly visible tracking of likes, so you're not tempted to compare your…
The new 2d printed avatars that allow you to easily add people you meet are perfect. Shows Snapchat really understand their audience.
Snapchat may have been bootstrapped with sexting but it is so much more than that now. They've hit on something that no other social network has - an audience of regular people who aren't selling anything, who want to retain their privacy and who want to have fun with friends and acquiantances online.
So much of the content I see on Snapchat would never be shared anywhere else - and a lot of the people sharing it are those who weren't interested in building a profile on public pages.