How Snapchat Mastered the Art of Keeping Things Personal

by Olivia Collins, Teen Tech

Snapchat has grown to be one of the most successful apps over the past few years.

​Why?

The answer is simple - it's personal.

​One of the main appeals of Snapchat is that it caters to the personal aspect users are desperate for, and puts them in control. You can share endless selfies and know exactly who sees them. Snapchat lets you know when your snap is sent, delivered, opened - or even if it's been screenshot.

​This gives you the opportunity to see when friends are ignoring you (although it's probably best not to take an ignored snap to heart).

You can also see who is able to see your snap stories. This is unique to Snapchat, this complete access to who has seen what you post. Less unique, but still useful - you can block people from seeing your stories without their knowledge. 

Stories are one example of how the people at Snapchat are pros at keeping their users interested with new features. And they're clearly doing something right - they were the "fastest growing social app of 2014." (Let's just not talk about Snapcash - no one's perfect).

Wanna be Batman?

The most recent add-on is filters. The new filters recognize faces and do everything from distorting faces, to making them prettier, to turning them into dogs. These filters can even have sponsors. For example, the new Batman movie has one that transforms faces into Batman. Not only are these filters super fun, but they keep the user entertained and coming back to see what new filters are added.

And speaking of new features, the personal touch has been taken one step further with Snapchat geotags. The geotag feature gives unique geotags to locations. This gives you the opportunity to show your snap friends where you are in a cool way.

Overall, Snapchat is doing a great job keeping users interested by giving users control of how they personally connect with their friends. Even so, brands are starting to flock to the app as well. I look forward to seeing what they add next.

IMAGE CREDIT: CRIS YEAGER