Snapchat trying to put Humpty Dumpty together again

When messaging app Snapchat redesigned its UI last year, users got upset. Actually, saying they got upset would be putting it mildly. People quit using the app, many deleted it from their mobile devices, and 1.2 million people signed a petition on Change.org demanding that Snapchat bring back the old interface. Back in February, Snapchat said that it made the change and that subscribers (those who hadn't sworn off the app) would have to put on their big boy and big girl pants and accept that things change.

The change that Snapchat made was to separate stories made by a user's friends and family from those made by celebrities, brands, publishers and the media. Now it appears that Snapchat is making a change to a small test group that will result in moving stories generated by Snapchat members to the Discover page where they will (we're not making this up) be found among the content posted by celebrities, brands, publishers and the media.

Snapchat parent company Snap might have concluded that by moving the stories that members care about to the Discover page, readership of the content created by publishers and celebrities will increase. We might never know the true motive. Even though it tried to ignore the petition and the criticism that surrounded the original change, a Snap spokesman said "We are always listening to our community." That might be true, but it seems that the Snapchat community has to scream loudly to be heard.


source: Recode