Mediaboss Marketing

commentary The ephemeral messaging service's new "Stories" feature is a game-changer for social networking behavior. Here's how it will make our digital personas more genuine.

Before yesterday, I had sent less than five messages using the Snapchat app. To be honest, I didn't even know that a photo or video sent through the app and equipped with its risk-encouraging countdown clock was called a "snap."

But with the introduction of the Stories feature Thursday -- the ability to collect viewable moments in a personal timeline that sticks around for that day only -- Snapchat has become an overnight fascination of mine. It is, in my eyes, one of the most pivotal social-networking additions in recent memory.

While Instagram preps its network for the introduction of photo and video ads and Facebook sits pretty -- having figured out the mobile conundrum plaguing its stock price -- Snapchat went ahead and introduced a truly game-changing feature into the mix.

It may not seem like much on the surface, but Stories is important. It bundles the off-the-cuff, genuine, and downright more honest ways in which we capture and share moments that we know will not last with an easier, less direct delivery mechanism. In essence, it combined the medium of Instagram with a stripped down Facebook profile, providing an ever-changing window into somebody's life that's not about chasing likes, bragging about accomplishments, or capturing sunsets and silhouettes.

It's a lifecasting tool with none of the usual shame or social stigma.

Snapchat's growing up moment Prior to Stories, Snapchat was an app I looked at once a month, save for the few instances when someone texted me with, "Do you use Snapchat?" I would typically respond with a "nah not really," open up the app, remember that I did indeed friend Taco Bell for a promotional perk, and look at my backlog of "snaps." There would be a slew of selfies, shoddy video where I could barely discern what was happening, and a torrent of grainy photos with crude finger doodles smeared all over them.

In about 10 seconds, each one would disappear forever (well, sort of). Needless to say, I just didn't get it. Sure, it was great for the sexting crowd. But I wasn't one of the cynical types to write off the service as one exclusively designed for shameless teenagers.

To me, it always seemed as if Snapchat was on the cusp of something greater, something more true to life than the Facebook status or Instagram photo but was never quite there by simply offering impermanence. Founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy didn't set out to change the world, but they aren't exactly in it for the money or else they would have designed something more advertiser-friendly.

And while they're not armchair philosophers trying to influence the behavioral landscape of humanity, they are really smart guys who knew that there was a gaping hole in our social network use. With Stories, I feel like the Stanford-born company on its way to a $1 billion valuation has finally hit the mark.

Read more:
How Snapchat will make us more honest