For the first time since it’s conception in 2014, the “little ghost” social media user base has started to decline fast in comparison to their numbers from last year.

Two years ago on it’s prime, Snapchat registered a total of 22 million active users per month. Success not only came by sharing moments or “snaps”, but it was also the cradle of abundance for influencers and, by proxy, for brands who would flock to them to target audiences between 18 and 34 years old. The decline of users was not the only hit Snapchat took, in many parts of the world, the social network has stopped being considered a young network more so, the problem is mainly in the US, one of it’s main audiences.

One of the reasont the network continues to lose followers is because of the recent update which divided their feed in two: in one of the screens people can catch up with their friends’ snaps, while on the other they can find updates from influencers and brands. However, many users claim the decaying numbers are not due to the update, but rather the lack of new features from the app developers.

Donations and Earnings

Even after the no-so-positive quarter report on the number of fans and active users, their earnings where mantained thanks to a $250 millioon USD investment made by Saudi Arabian prince Alwaleed bin Talal to Snap Inc. after the company announced 100 million active users per month on it´s messaging app in US and Canada.

The investment got the prince 2.3% of the company share, he now looks to invest on new technologies, among them are Twitter, the chinese e-commerce company JD.com and Lyft.

It remains true that new generations of internet users spend most of their time in the app, non users find no reasons to open the app or even downloading it. To face this apathy against them, Snapchat included a tab to discover new accounts, hoping to gain back the engagement that at some point put it on the top over Facebook and Instagram.

Even after losing 3 million users this past quarter, Snapchat is still an important and popular network among young people, at least in the US and Eruope. Snaps are still a great way to apporach the average user and are a good way to promote engagement, altho it is a good practice to always keep looking for new ways to reach potential users.

Sources
www.socialmediatoday.com
www.20minutos.es
www.statista.com
www.lanacion.com.ar