Kaitlyn Tiffany and I have spent a lot of time talking about Instagram product features on our Why’d You Push That Button? podcast. (Check out that back catalog.) So for this week’s episode, we want to talk about Snapchat, the app that pioneered the Stories format. Instagram copied the ephemeral Stories three years ago, so what other features keep people on Snapchat?
For this episode, we poll multiple Snapchat users about the features that tie them to the app. For some, it’s Snapstreaks, a feature that tracks and visualizes how long they’ve Snapped someone continuously. These users are so loyal to Snapchat that they’ll email the company if they miss a day of Snaps and ask for their Snapstreaks back. The company responds and seems to oblige. Snap wouldn’t comment for this story about how this process works or who approves these requests.
Another guest loves Snapchat because of the trophies she earns from playing in the app. Another guest likes to send nudes through it, and Kaitlyn’s sisters say it’s a good app for sharing toilet humor. Really!
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