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Snapchat Trades Ephemeral Roots for Public Chats
Snapchat launches "Topic Chats" for public conversations, a strategic pivot from its private messaging focus aimed at boosting community engagement.
Key Points
- Snapchat launches "Topic Chats" for public conversations, a strategic pivot from its private messaging focus aimed at boosting community engagement.
- In a departure from its ephemeral roots, messages in the new public forums will be retained for up to five years and moderated using LLM technology.
- The feature includes privacy safeguards that prevent non-friends from accessing user profiles through the chats, blocking unwanted contact.
Snapchat is launching "Topic Chats," a new feature for public conversations, marking a major pivot from its private messaging focus. The move is designed to boost community engagement by creating public forums for trending topics.
A public response: The move is a direct response to how its community already engages with public comments on Spotlight. In a blog post, the company said the move was inspired by users who "love commenting publicly about trending topics and events."
Privacy in the square: Snapchat balances the public nature of the chats with its privacy-focused ethos by keeping user profiles walled off from non-friends to block unwanted contact. While display names are public, they can't be used to search for a user, and profiles can't be accessed from the chat, the company told TechCrunch.
A five-year memory: To keep conversations safe, Snapchat will use LLM technology for moderation. But the move comes with a trade-off that breaks from its ephemeral roots: the company confirmed to TechCrunch that messages sent in Topic Chats will be retained for up to five years.
Snapchat is betting that public, permanent conversations can drive more engagement than its signature disappearing messages, trading a core piece of its identity for a chance to build a more active public square. The launch is part of a broader platform evolution for Snapchat, which has recently introduced features like permanent message storage. It also reflects a larger social media trend, with platforms competing for a slice of the 5.6 billion global users who spend over 2.5 hours daily on social apps.
