Okaz/Saudi Gazette SNAPCHAT — a video messaging application, is basically a medium to send your ‘snaps' to a controlled list of recipients. It also is a medium through which friends can converse through messages enabling its users to carry on their banter online. It is this simplicity that has led Saudis to top the list of Snapchat users in the Arab world while claiming the No. 2 position among actual global users of the social media app, which is popular among teenagers, according to Global Web Index published by a British research company. Statistics have shown that the majority of Snapchat users are women, said Evan Spiegel, cofounder and CEO of Snapchat. "Women represent 70 percent of our customers," he added. Active worldwide daily users of Snapchat, which was launched in 2011, are estimated at more than 100 million. In the year 2012, it was available on iOS and Android systems. Thanks to its wide popularly among Arab film stars, Islamic propagators and sports heroes, Snapchat claims a large base of subscribers from the Arab world and this has affected the popularity of other social media apps. Although Snapchat is designed for teens, it is used by people of all age groups. This has been confirmed by the findings of various research firms. Most reports have pointed out that the majority of Snapchat users are aged below 35. Teenagers aged between 18 and 24 account for 45 percent of Snapchat users, followed by the age group of 25-34 (26 percent), 35-44 (13 percent), 45-54 (10 percent) and 55-64 (six percent). Omar Al-Qahtani described Snapchat as a simple and user-friendly app. About 700 million photos and videos are exchanged through this app daily. Hala Al-Joraid said she had noticed mass migration of social media activists to Snapchat in recent months. "Many users of Instagram wearied of the app and I was among the first to look for another app. And the best option was Snapchat. We left Facebook and moved to Twitter and then to Instagram. I can see Snapchat pulling the rug from under the feet of Instagram." Student Suad Al-Balawi said it was the privacy feature of Snapchat that attracted her the most. "Most social media apps lack privacy while advertisements have made many apps a monotonous source, a fact that encouraged many people to shift to Snapchat, which offers them privacy." Nasser Al-Saqer and Abdullah Al-Anazi also observed a substantial number of social media activists moving to Snapchat. However, they don't expect a total shift of social media users from Instagram and Twitter to Snapchat as both apps have their own specialties. They agreed that Snapchat is the most simplest of apps available in the social media domain. "It's not heavy and its registration procedures are simple compared to other apps. By writing your name, email address and password one can complete the registration process. After that you can add friends and start receiving photos and videos. It is based on an innovative system," they said. If Snapchat executives are able to preserve people's privacy for long it would be able to attract more users from other social media apps including Facebook and Twitter.
