META Meta Platforms Inc

By David Pierce 

You know the old saying, right? If you can't beat 'em...pivot.

That's the story of the new version of Snap Inc.'s Snapchat, a complete overhaul currently rolling out to the app's 187 million daily users. See, Facebook Inc.'s Instagram has waged a merciless campaign to destroy Snapchat by copying all its best features and offering them in a simpler app with more users. Snap invented the story format -- in which users share short public videos that disappear after 24 hours -- but more people make and watch stories on Instagram.

After more than a year of fighting, Snap had no choice but to stop battling Instagram head-on and try becoming something else entirely.

Snapchat is now three things at once -- a fun augmented-reality camera, a powerful if confusing messaging platform and a place to watch original, phone-friendly video. Snap could have gone further, breaking each feature out into its own app, but decided not to risk asking its users to download new apps.

The one thing Snapchat most assuredly is not? A social network. There's no timeline, no news feed, no likes and comments. If you want those, use Instagram.

After Snap began rolling out the updated app in late 2017, many users had the same reaction: a hatred that burned with the fury of a thousand suns. It's "sick" and "twisted" and "horrible," people on Twitter said. More than a million people signed a petition imploring Snap to revert to the old design.

In some ways, they're right. For certain things, Snapchat is now a far less useful platform. It's not the best place to keep up with celebrities or view the videos your influencer-wannabe friends are posting publicly.

But to me, the infamously inscrutable app is now far easier to understand, especially for new users. It's no longer "Instagram only confusing." Snap is doubling down on being personal, and we need more of that on the internet. It's exploring how photography, chat and even TV change when we're all on our phones all the time. I've found myself using Snapchat far more since the redesign.

Snapchange

The most noticeable change is the layout of the Snapchat app itself. Like always, when you open it, you go straight to the camera. All the filters, lenses and AR tools are still here. If nothing else, this is still the most powerful camera app you'll find.

Swipe right from the camera and you land on Snapchat's new Friends screen, its home for all your chats and other interactions with people you actually know.

Snapchat is an excellent messaging app, but this new screen confuses me. Tapping on friends' pictures opens their profiles, usually. If somebody has an active story -- indicated by a small, easy-to-miss blue circle -- you see that instead. Tapping or swiping right on a friend's name opens a chat window, or else a snap he or she might have sent.

The most confusing part of the Friends screen? Its order.

Like many social platforms, Snapchat's content is now governed by algorithms that attempt to discern what you're likeliest to want to see at a given moment. The best, not the most recent, floats to the top. In theory, the algorithm should make sure your best friend is never drowned out by your chattier colleagues. But sometimes an acquaintance who posts a story jumps up, burying more important group chats and private messages.

Can you imagine your phone constantly reordering your texts, based on what it thinks you care about? Snap ought to at least let us opt out and go back to chronological order.

When you swipe left from the camera, you get the Discover screen. Here you'll see Snapchat's original programming, content from publishers like BuzzFeed and The Wall Street Journal, and stories from celebrities and others you follow. This content is curated by Snapchat's staff and personalized based on your viewing habits. In this case, algorithmic ordering makes more sense.

Snap has made a small concession to its disgruntled users. On Tuesday, the company said a coming update will add tabs to the Friends and Discover screens. In these tabs, you'll be able to tap to see only stories or group chats or Discover feeds you've subscribed to. They're still all sorted by those algorithms, however.

Friends like these

Dividing Snapchat into three distinct parts has wide-reaching effects. Snapchat's previous emphasis on quick, silly video and an everything-together interface led to a wonderful mixing of friendship and fandom, as if Justin Timberlake were your bestie and those behind-the-scenes videos were just for you.

Now those videos are deemed "Official Stories," placed alongside publisher content. The divide is clear: Justin Timberlake is not your friend. His story is a show, and you are a viewer.

This lets Snapchat turn its content into a far more serious moneymaking machine. Its curation team looks at popular or nearby stories, original shows and more to give you a near-endless stream of stuff to watch -- all of it with ads every few snaps.

Snapchat is showing it's more interested in quality. "There's always going to be a platform where you can get more views," says a spokesman.

In general, I see the difference. While some of Discover's publishers do trade too much in scantily clad celebrities, I've seen little of the fake news and political bile that infect so many other platforms. Snap is acting more like Netflix than YouTube, choosing content carefully rather than gunning for volume.

Unfortunately, it's still too difficult to find fresh stuff to watch. There's no Explore page like Instagram or a YouTube-style Trending page. It's terrific during big events like the Olympics, where Snapchat can offer an endless stream of first-person perspective, but Discover mostly recycles the same people and publishers day after day.

There may just be less to show: Many former popular Snapchat users have shifted their focus to other platforms, where there are more eyeballs and more discovery.

On the messaging front, Snapchat is at its best when you aren't trying to juggle too many friends. You can share more freely and always find people. Snap says that's the idea, and acknowledges that for keeping up with "friends" you haven't talked to since high school, you're better off with Instagram or Facebook.

There are good reasons for newcomers and veterans alike to give this new version a chance. It doesn't stress me out like Twitter does, or make me feel inadequate like Instagram. It's a place for hanging out with my friends, taking goofy pictures and watching some fun videos.

But the balancing act is getting trickier. Could the next "Game of Thrones" come in snap form? (Don't hold your breath.) More important, will your friends stick it out through all the changes? As Facebook's crusade continues, it seems to get quieter here every day.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2018 10:40 ET (15:40 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.