Snapchat has launched a new promotional marketing campaign, through which it seeks to current its platform because the anti-social media, as a way to distance itself from the various points being skilled inside different apps, whereas additionally leaning into evolving on-line engagement tendencies.

As you’ll be able to see on this clip, Snapchat’s in search of to current its platform as an antidote to the divisive recognition contest that social media has change into, as a way to improve its enchantment to extra customers.

As defined by Snap:

“The promise of social media began out nice. It was a spot the place we might join with individuals and share bits of our lives. A spot the place we might be part of one thing larger than ourselves – the place we might really feel supported and beloved. However someplace within the adolescence of social media, issues started to really feel off. Associates grew to become individuals who felt extra like strangers. Moments grew to become extra curated. Sharing grew to become extra contrived.”

Snapchat, it says, is completely different, as a result of it doesn’t have a feed, and it isn’t in search of to showcase your posts to as many individuals as attainable. Snapchat opens to the digicam, and deletes your content material by default. That, it suggests, allows customers to really feel extra free to publish about extra features of their lives.

“Folks really feel exhausted by the social media recognition contest. Fed up with having to look fairly or excellent in each publish. Bored with competing for likes and feedback. Misled by misinformation. However Snapchat just isn’t social media. It by no means was. The truth is, it was constructed as an antidote to social media”

It’s truly a fairly interesting pitch, although how Snapchat matches this with its origins as an area for extra risqué, controversial content material is one other consideration.

Additionally it is value noting that Snap has been pushing this various angle for years, working to distance itself from the “social media” tag because it seeks to distinguish its providing.

Again in 2017, when Snap first launched its Spectacles digicam glasses, it additionally tried to re-brand itself as “a digicam firm”, with a deal with creating new methods to innovate the seize of experiences, versus being a social engagement platform.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel has, at completely different instances, reiterated that digicam focus, whereas additionally labeling Snapchat as a messaging service, in variance to different social apps. Certainly, earlier this month, in a leaked memo despatched to staff, Spiegel mentioned that “social media is useless”, with Snapchat set to take up the trigger and supply improved private connection, in variance to angst-inducing social apps.

And in some methods, he’s appropriate.

Social media platforms have been more and more leaning into video, and AI-based content material suggestions of video content material, following the lead of TikTok, which has seen nice success by highlighting essentially the most related video clips to every person, versus enclosing their expertise to solely the individuals and profiles that they’ve chosen to observe.

On this sense, social media utilization is now much less about seeing what your family and friends are as much as, and extra about what’s trending. Which might make them extra entertainment-based apps, versus connective instruments.

The social components have more and more shifted in direction of extra enclosed, personal group discussions, primarily inside messaging apps. And as that development evolves, it does really feel just like the social facet is shrinking. And if you additionally take into account that the overwhelming majority of social media customers by no means publish in any app, and simply devour content material, there’s rising proof to help Spiegel’s competition.

So is Snapchat the antidote, the choice that extra customers are in search of, as a way to remain linked and have interaction with extra enclosed teams of buddies?

For a lot of younger customers, it positively is, which is bolstered in each examine that analyzes demographic utilization tendencies. The under, for instance, is from the Pew Analysis social media utilization development report, which was revealed earlier this week.

The issue for Snap is that, as you’ll be able to see in these stats, that utilization just isn’t holding up as its viewers will get older, although Snap can also be solely 12 years outdated, and it might nonetheless have extra endurance inside expanded demographic subsets within the coming years.

However proper now, Snap isn’t sustaining its relevance as its viewers ages up. It’s been attempting to handle this for years, in numerous methods. However the proof means that Snap may simply be a cool teen app, which turns into much less related to adults who join in various kinds.

So whereas it might be various to social media because it suggests, that’s not a message that’s resonating with an expanded cohort of customers.

Can Snap change that? Will this reiteration of its focus enchantment to extra customers, lots of whom are already switching to messaging apps?

It’s pitch, and I do assume it’s going to resonate with Snap’s core viewers. I’m simply unsure it’s hit for anyone else.