Snapchat unveils dramatic change
Snapchat has been among the hottest apps for sharing goofy, temporary photos and videos since its launch in 2011. In 2016, the company introduced a feature known as Memories that allowed people to save things that would otherwise have been available for only 24 hours. Many have turned this into a personal photo album, storing years’ worth of snapshots and recordings.
But Snapchat has now introduced a new policy: users with over 5 gigabytes (GB) of stored Memories will have to pay to keep them in storage. This is the first time the company has ever demanded payment for something that has been free for nearly a decade.
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Why the backlash?
The news has generated strong responses on the web. Numerous users complain that they feel the decision is unjust, particularly those who have been using Snapchat for a long time and now possess an enormous repository of older posts stored. Some have referred to the company as “greedy,” alleging that it is asking money for something that was initially outlined as a free service.
Snap itself admitted in its blog post that “it’s never easy to shift from getting a service for free to paying for it.” However, it argued that the move is meaningful in order to keep innovating the Memories feature and to make Snapchat sustainable in the long run.
What will it cost?
Snap has not announced complete pricing for every country, but early speculation is that the initial paid level will offer customers 100GB of storage for $1.99 (£1.48) per month.
The second choice will also be an option as part of the Snapchat+ subscription, which will cost $3.99 (£2.96) per month and include 250GB of storage plus other extra premium features.
Snap also clarified that people who presently possess more than 5GB of Memories will get 12 months of interim storage to adapt. They can either download their files onto their own device or pay for a premium plan within this time frame.
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How many people will be affected
Snap underscored that the “vast majority” of its users will not be affected because the majority of people have fewer than 5GB of Memories stored. However, for those who take snaps daily and save all of them, the storage gets filled within no time. More than one trillion Memories have been saved in the last couple of years, signifying how well-received the feature has been.
For those heavy users, the change would result in suddenly paying new monthly charges—or potentially losing years’ worth of stored material.
Why is snap doing this?
The company explained that charging for storage will allow it to continue investing in its app. With over 900 million individuals using Snapchat on a monthly basis, it is still one of the most used messaging apps, but it lags behind those like Instagram and TikTok, which have billions of users.
Experts think this may be part of a larger trend. Drew Benvie, chief executive at social media agency Battenhall, told the BBC that the cost for storage on social media platforms is “inevitable.” He stated that because people now upload fewer things but keep more, sites are finding out how to make money off of that.
The bigger picture
For consumers, this shift serves to illustrate the extent of tech giants’ control over online memories. Something once thought permanent and ad-free can become an easily paid service in an instant.
Some consumers might be willing to pay for years of stored content, but others are infuriated with having to decide whether they will lose their data or pay monthly charges.
This move also raises a larger question: will the others do the same? With TikTok, Instagram, and other sites holding onto masses of user data, some believe it is only a question of time before it is something users have to pay for.
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