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Snapchat Is Becoming the Anti-Facebook (qz.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: Snap announced today (Nov. 29), that it was rolling out a redesign for Snapchat that's intended to separate users' feeds between their friends from the brands that publish content on the app. Founder and CEO Evan Spiegel published an op-ed in Axios this morning about the direction that social media has taken over the last few years, where content from brands and influencers has been given the same weight and placement as content from friends and loved ones in users' feeds. Spiegel also took to YouTube, for the second time in about two years, to explain how the new Snapchat works.

The new structure seems like a positive move. It's sort of solidifying the app, which turned down $3 billion from Facebook in 2013, as the "anti-Facebook." Facebook has muddled the line between content, news about friends, and pure internet garbage to the point where it's become nearly impossible for the average user to know what's important, or even true -- on purpose. Snapchat is reaffirming the value of staying connected to your friends, and enjoying news and entertainment content, but showing that the two activities should not be the same thing. Whether this restructuring will convince more people to start using Snapchat, however, is unclear.

28 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Snapbookgram by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    I've been using Snapbookgram regularly. I am much happier now.

    1. Re: Snapbookgram by dougdonovan · · Score: 1

      if you dont own "legal" shares of snapchat...you are wrong.

    2. Re:Snapbookgram by Random+Internet+Guy · · Score: 1

      I prefer Crapchat. It lets you post only while you're taking a shit, so you don't end up wasting other more potentially productive moments.

    3. Re:Snapbookgram by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      I'm still using FriendFace.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. So when they come in contact... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    everything is annia.... anniahla... destroyed?

  3. As long as they don't ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... ask for a photo of me, one nude and the other just my face and stuff.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  4. Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by Snotnose · · Score: 1

    just to avoid FB? Cuz I don't have any social media presence, except for a misguided Linkedin account I made a few years back hoping it would help me get a job but just got me spam.

    / Social media free since '58 // except for that stupid linkedin thing in '04, where I thought it might actually help me get a job /// no FB, no snapchat, no instagram, no myspace, no friendz or whatever it was called 15 years ago

    1. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by Snotnose · · Score: 1

      Really hate the way /. requires explicit line breaks between lines. I hit CR, isn't that enough of a hint? Do I really need
      ?

      fuckin stupid is what I call it. -br- -br- -br- There, you happy now?

    2. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Really hate the way /. requires explicit line breaks between lines. I hit CR, isn't that enough of a hint? Do I really need
      ?

      We're sorry you're finding your Slashdot experience less than satisfactory. We are committed to your best Slashdot experience and would be happy to assist you. Please click "Help" on the main Slashdot menu and then select "Live Chat" so one of our Customer Experience Technicians can help you with your problem. [Note: charges may apply]

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      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by Larry+Lightbulb · · Score: 1

      Please send a tweet to Slashdot support or post a message on our wall.

    4. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 1

      Really hate the way /. requires explicit line breaks between lines. I hit CR, isn't that enough of a hint? Do I really need
      ?

      fuckin stupid is what I call it.
      -br- -br- -br-
      There, you happy now?

      Go to: *Username* (in upper right)-Account-Posting-Comment Post Mode: Change to "Plain Old Text"

    5. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Please send a tweet to Slashdot support or post a message on our wall.

      Or, he could just upgrade to Slashdot Premium, which includes unicode support and special lootboxes with varying amounts of mod points inside.

      It's only $9.95/month, but it includes a blue checkmark after your user name and the option to set your username to a blinking font.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re: Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Plain old text works 95% of the time. Unless you want to link to something else. Then you are screwed.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    7. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by slashrio · · Score: 2

      Post as A.C., /. seems to prefer that, it also keeps your karma untouched by fucking stupid down modders because they simply don't agree with you, mostly for political reasons.

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    8. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by dcw3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Stop posting shit I disagree with, and you won't have that problem.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    9. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The entire fucking internet in a nutshell.

    10. Re:Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by rcharbon · · Score: 1

      You do understand that Slashdot is "Social Media", right?

    11. Re: Does this mean I need a snapchat account? by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 1

      Plain old text works 95% of the time. Unless you want to link to something else. Then you are screwed.

      Plain old text works for links, you just don't need <BR><BR>. That's what I'm using now.
      From TFS:

      HTML Formatted: You determine the formatting, using allowed HTML tags and entities.

      Plain Old Text: Same as "HTML Formatted", except that <BR> is automatically inserted for newlines, and other whitespace is converted to non-breaking spaces in a more-or-less intelligent way.

      Extrans: Same as "Plain Old Text", except that & and < and > are converted to entities (no HTML markup allowed).

      Code: Same as "Extrans", but a monospace font is used, and a best attempt is made at performing proper indentation.

  5. Well.... by MerlTurkin · · Score: 1

    I don't do either so I don't care!

  6. Need to do something... by Luthair · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Their stock has been on a downward slide since their IPO and its worth roughly half what it was then today.

  7. Re: Does Snapchat's TOS still suck horribly? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    TL;DR

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  8. facebook are also testing this so its not anti-FB! by just+another+AC · · Score: 2

    https://www.businessinsider.co...

    Facebook tested similar already (a month ago) separating "news feed" (public/brand content) from "friend feed".

    But I guess the tilt for FB is that doing this forces companies to pay for ads to get into the friend feed rather than have their company FB page show up in the regular feed.

    But don't let the truth get in the way... carry on.

  9. SnapChat has a long way to go, IMO .... by King_TJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When I think of SnapChat, I think of "that skeezy service that enables pre-teens to share nude photos of themselves with each other without leaving evidence behind" (since photos you take with it automatically disappear after a short time).

    If they're truly redesigning the whole thing to be a "better Facebook than Facebook"? Great -- but they've got a bad reputation to shake off first.

    Right now, I really get the feeling that the younger crowd has migrated to SnapChat only because their parents are all over Facebook, making that an automatic "non starter" of a social media option for many of them. (Nobody wants to have a discussion with friends about the opposite sex or a party they attended or what-not, and suddenly have mom or dad, or grandma pipe up in the middle of it.)

    But really, Facebook has a far more established service. Features like "memories" that automatically recall and feature old photos you posted and forgot about add more value for people than a service that treats them as disposable.

  10. Now, if we can only get them to collide... by phfpht · · Score: 5, Funny

    If we can get the Facebook and Antifacebook particles to collide and annihilate each other, we'll all be better off.

    1. Re:Now, if we can only get them to collide... by neo-mkrey · · Score: 1

      ...and nothing of value would be lost.

  11. Well the answer was supposed to be Google+ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Which let's you choose "Circles" of friends to share with. Problem is, everyone is already on Facebook and they won't switch- Just like Internet Explorer users didn't switch to Firefox.

  12. Re: fucking stupid br-br-br by slashrio · · Score: 1

    Eens!

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  13. a principled stand? by Goldsmith · · Score: 1

    So now leveraging a buy-out offer from Facebook to get an inflated IPO is a principled stand against ... something vague about social media? I thought it was just a desire to make more money.

    They have a long way to go before an op-ed like this can be taken seriously. Regardless of their actual intentions, Snapchat made a service that enabled kids to send dirty pics to each other and then rode that wave of skeezy popularity without self-reflection or responsibility for too long to now talk about looking out for their users.