The Secret Psychology of Snapchat
Transcript
- 1. The Secret Psychology of Snapchat 7 min read
- 2. Do you get Snapchat?
- 3. If you don’t get it, you’re probably over 30.
- 4. This app ... is huge!
- 5. It is used by 100 million monthly active users who send more than 400 million snaps per day. Source: Mashable
- 6. The company is worth $10 billion. Source: Mashable
- 7. Keep reading to learn the psychology of Snapchat … … and why people use it so much.
- 8. 1. What it is 2. How it works 3. The secret sauce Deconstructing Snapchat
- 9. 1. What it is
- 10. Snapchat is a way to make bite-sized content. Snaps! Easy to consume pics perfect for snacking on mobile phones.
- 11. Snapchat is useful for capturing life’s little moments.
- 12. Kind of like capturing the “Kodak moment” (if you remember what that is.)
- 13. Snapchat is also a messaging service with special rules.
- 14. Every app has rules.
- 15. Swipe right to like or left to pass. If someone likes you back, it’s a match!
- 16. Write up to 140 characters.
- 17. Create 6 second looping videos.
- 18. Send photos/videos that disappear in seconds.
- 19. Why does this particular rule work so well for Snapchat?
- 20. The fact that snaps disappear means people can be more honest, more fun, and more...themselves. PHEW Carefree Communication
- 21. “Snaps disappear in 10 seconds so who cares!?!” … says the Snapchat user
- 22. Reducing the "cognitive load" of worrying what others might think of the photos. See: Nir Eyal’s “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
- 23. Snapchat users snap without worry.
- 24. snapchatting is like wearing pyjamas at a friend’s house. If Instagram’s feed is like a wedding to dress up for,
- 25. 2. How It Works
- 26. The default screen is the camera page. It’s clear what the app wants people to do… Take a snap already!
- 27. Other apps (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) always show the feed first.
- 28. Snapchat broke that rule, putting the camera first. … and reduced the number of steps to one tap instead of several.
- 29. There’s another way Snapchat saves steps.
- 30. If you are an Instagram user, you know the pain of choosing just the right filter.
- 31. Choosing a filter in Instagram creates a loop of two decisions:
- 32. In Snapchat, filters apply automatically when swiping. One less decision to make.
- 33. Cognitively speaking, that’s huge.
- 34. Users can get creative here too! After taking a snap, altering the picture with paint and text is fun.
- 35. Snapchat offers endless customization opportunities.
- 36. Not only that, Snapchat has geo-filters, which, with one swipe, customize the image based on your location.
- 37. There is something novel, uncertain, creative, and surprising about taking and altering snaps. See: Nir Eyal’s book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
- 38. The best user-submitted snaps are curated into a Story by Snapchat for all to see.
- 39. All of these Snaps add “variable rewards.” See: Nir Eyal’s book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
- 40. There’s still one more behavioral secret at work.
- 41. 3. The Secret Sauce
- 42. Snapchat’s secret sauce lies in its roots as a messaging service.
- 43. Sending snaps activates the rule of reciprocation. See: Robert B. Cialdini’s book “Influence”
- 44. Reciprocity in social psychology refers to our need to respond to a positive action with another positive action.
- 45. Following this rule, when a user gets a snap, she is somewhat obligated to send something back.
- 46. Because Snaps disappear, you need to reply right away before you forget what Snap you received!
- 47. “Double tap to reply!” says Snapchat. And a few taps later a response is on its way...
- 48. Loading the next trigger for even more snapping...
- 49. Eventually making Snapchat a daily habit.
- 50. Snapchat has a great Hook See: Nir Eyal’s book “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”
- 51. 1. Internal Trigger The fear of losing the moment. Quick! Snap it! So cute!
- 52. 2. Action Open the app and snap with just one tap.
- 53. 3. Variable Reward How does it look? Did I capture the moment? How should I modify this?
- 54. 4. Investment Sending it to another user “loads the next trigger” and “stores value” when new contacts are added.
- 55. 5. External Trigger Replying to a snap sends a new notification, activates the rule of reciprocity, … … and the Hook cycle continues.
- 56. … And now you understand why people are hooked to Snapchat! Dori Adar DoriAdar.com Nir Eyal NirAndFar.com Victoria Young CreateInteractions.com