Why Snapchat’s Product Is Booming

The company withstood Facebook’s best swing, now it’s growing fast again. Here’s why.

In August 2016, Snapchat seemed destined for decline. Facebook that month cloned Stories — Snapchat’s most beloved feature — and rolled it out on Instagram, en route to placing it on Messenger, Whatsapp, and Facebook itself. At the time, Snapchat was a plucky upstart, gathering steam ahead of an IPO. But when the world’s biggest social network copied its best feature and shipped it to billions, the growth story seemed over.

After a few tough years, however, Snapchat’s been booming. The app now has 332 million daily users, up 18% from last year, beating analysts’ expectations to start 2022. With little fanfare, it’s sailed past Twitter, serving 115 million more daily users than Twitter’s 217 million, despite the latter’s cultural significance.

Snapchat’s business still has some ways to go, but its product growth is noteworthy. The company’s path offers some key lessons about the evolution of social media, and where it’s heading:

Messaging > Stories

Stories helped Snapchat grow, but messaging propelled its longevity. Snapchat’s lighthearted, ephemeral messaging feature attracted young people looking for alternatives to built-in apps like Apple…