Snapchat 'Discover' Brings Curated News, Ads

Snapchat is pushing their curated content platform out today. Called 'Discover', the new feature makes a home in Snapchat as you know it, but has videos and other media from deep-pocketed outlets instead of your broke friends. Discover can be found vi a small round icon in the top right of the screen, which then redirects you to media from the likes of CNN, Food Network, ESPN, Vice, and People. Like other snaps, the content also vanishes — just not as quickly.

The content in Discover comes via something Snapchat calls Editions (we know, lots of new jargon). Editions will allow a media organization to control their narrative thread, should they choose to. The first part of an Edition will vanish after 24 hours, where the next chapter can take its place.

Say ESPN was running a narrative about DeflateGate leading into the Super Bowl. Each day would bring you something new via Discover, taking you right into the big game. It's a way to allow media companies to keep their integrity on a "sexting" platform, and a means to bring users back.

Snapchat says Discover is "built for creatives". Videos go full-screen by default, and long-form content is allowed.

Discover also brings in advertising. Snapchat calls it "gorgeous advertising", but it's ads. As we learned not long ago, advertising is possibly very lucrative for Snapchat, so expect plenty of it.

The question is whether or not Snapchat can steal any energy from larger social platforms with Discover. It's a strange microblogging angle for Snapchat — the content doesn't lead back to a website, disappears after 24 hours, and isn't necessarily timely info. In a world of breaking news, Discover needs to find its niche.

Source: Snapchat