Why does Snapchat want me to send images so much?

[pythonmegapixel]

I've recently, for better or for worse, started using Snapchat more often, and I've noticed that the app seemingly much prefers me to send images rather than text based messages. Opening the app dumps me straight into the camera view; streaks can only be kept going by pictures not text; the in app score thingy only counts images and not text messages; and there are zero formatting options for text (not even the option to add a new line) compared with loads of editing tools for photos.

 

Why exactly is the app designed like that? What is the benefit to them if I send a picture rather than a text message?

 

 

[Slottr]

You just defined snapchats function lol

[SlashedM]

6 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Opening the app dumps me straight into the camera view; streaks can only be kept going by pictures not text; the in app score thingy only counts images and not text messages

Thats because Snapchat was essentially made for images. In fact, messaging wasnt even added until a year after iirc.

 

Also snap score should count messages too, it doesnt count every message iirc, but I didn't use snap for images for awhile, only text, but my score still went up

[TVwazhere]

10 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Why exactly is the app designed like that? What is the benefit to Facebook and their subsidiaries if I send a picture rather than a text message?

Firstly snapchat is one of the only popular apps right now that's not owned by Facebook (yet)

 

Second, you just described exactly what the app was designed for. Communication via images, not text. If you want communication via text, you're on the wrong platform. 

[pythonmegapixel]

9 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Firstly snapchat is one of the only popular apps right now that's not owned by Facebook (yet)

Sorry - that was a bit of a brainfart! I was mixing it up with Instagram. Now corrected.

 

9 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Second, you just described exactly what the app was designed for. Communication via images, not text. If you want communication via text, you're on the wrong platform. 

The thing is that Snapchat's image communication functions are really excellent for their purpose, but I don't really see any reason images and text should be separate. So if I were Snapchat I would want to make the text communication functionality as good as the image communication functionality.

 

From a pre-internet perspective it's kinda like saying you can write your friend a letter or a postcard, but if you want to send a photo and a passage of text you have to send a postcard and then send a letter posted separately, you can't put a photo in the same envelope as a letter.

[TVwazhere]

2 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Sorry - that was a bit of a brainfart! I was mixing it up with Instagram. Now corrected.

 

The thing is that Snapchat's image communication functions are really excellent for their purpose, but I don't really see any reason images and text should be separate. So if I were Snapchat I would want to make the text communication functionality as good as the image communication functionality.

 

From a pre-internet perspective it's kinda like saying you can write your friend a letter or a postcard, but if you want to send a photo and a passage of text you have to send a postcard and then send a letter posted separately, you can't put a photo in the same envelope as a letter.

I mean you can both save a photo youre about to send before you send it, and it most cases you can save a snap you receive to a chat. But again, the draw of the app was you send a chat or an image and then it's gone.