Snap Inc. launched new event-planning features enabling Snapchat users to organize gatherings with friends, send invitations and collect responses without leaving the app.
Snapchat Plans, built on the idea that about a third of young people on the app in the US make plans through group chats and direct messages, is a suite of tools “helping friends turn conversations into real-world meet-ups,” from birthday parties to study sessions, the company said in a blog post Thursday. The get-togethers, which can include as many as 200 friends, are private and invite-only. A new “My Plans” section on users' profiles will allow them to track all their commitments in one place.
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The scheduling tool is Snapchat's latest expansion of products beyond the singular disappearing posts for which it's best known. The company has introduced subscription products — such as Snapchat+, which offers exclusive features, and Memories, a storage plan for images and videos — that have helped decrease its reliance on advertising.
On Sept. 16, Snap will also begin selling its first pair of augmented reality glasses, Specs, for $2,195. Snap gave an upbeat forecast for the current period during its latest earnings report last month, signaling optimism ahead of its commercial debut of the AI-powered wearables.
Snap is also taking steps to try to distinguish itself from other social media platforms like Meta Platforms Inc., Google's YouTube and TikTok – which are all defendants in high-stakes national litigation accusing the companies of knowingly designing their products to be addictive to young users. Snap has been on a crusade to show “the rest of the world that we're not social media,” and that Snapchat was “built as an alternative” from its early days.
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“TikTok has trends, Meta has scale, and Snapchat knows the real you,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Evan Spiegel said in his annual letter, published this week. “That's because when something matters in our lives we take a photo, tell a friend, or show up in person. Those are the core behaviors on Snapchat, and part of what makes our service unique.”
Snapchat Plans appears to be one piece of that broader strategy, encouraging users to jump from discussing meet-ups in messages to holding offline, in-person gatherings. But it could also increase engagement inside the app itself.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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