Oh Snap, It’s Here

Author: David Perell URL: https://www.perell.com/blog/2015/5/16/oh-snap-its-here One-line: An early-Perell student take on why SnapChat became the dominant communication channel for millennials — it delivers the three traits the cohort craves most: autonomy, simplicity, and visual appeal.

Key claims

• SnapChat became Perell’s main method of digital interaction with friends since arriving at school — a tool for sharing perspective broadly with classmates rather than hiding in a personal bubble, with “artistic touches” that enable a freedom of expression unique to the app.
• Sometimes the product matters; sometimes the experience does. People are alternately enthralled with a specific product and enamored with a unique digital experience — the specific tool doesn’t always matter (e.g. Instagram Stories) as much as the feeling the experience produces.
• The app is near-irrelevant to anyone born before 1990 — chalked up to Metcalfe’s Law (the network is composed of the cohort using it), CEO troubles, or a stigma against the SnapChat brand.
• SnapChat will keep growing because it gives millennials the communication traits they crave most: autonomy, simplicity, and visual appeal.

Notable quotes

“Instead of hiding in my personal bubble, I share my perspective on our beautiful world with all my classmates. I stay current with their lives via artistic touches that guarantee an unparalleled freedom of expression that only SnapChat can produce.”

“Maybe it’s Metcalf’s Law, troubles with the CEO, or a stigma against SnapChat’s brand, but this app is seemingly irrelevant for anybody born before 1990.”

“SnapChat will excel and grow in popularity because it provides millennials with the communication traits they crave most.”

How it connects

• David Perell — another early-career (2015) student piece, here reading a consumer-product moment rather than the education system (cf. A Message to Every Entrepreneur).
• Product — the product-vs-experience distinction; what makes a consumer app feel indispensable.
• Metcalfe’s Law / Network Effects — why a generationally-bounded network is invisible to those outside it.