Commentary

At Long Last, The Power Of Snapchat Explained (Hint: It's A Lot Like Text)

That’s what Snapchat superstar and social media persona Shaun McBride said when asked, “Why Snapchat?,” during a panel at OMMA Art & Science in Los Angeles today.

The query came from “So You Want to Partner with a Social Media Star… Really?” panel moderator Jon-Michael Herrmann, director of strategy at Giant Spoon, and it was one that was on the mind of many attendees. (Well, at least one other).

“When you get a snapchat from someone, it’s almost similar to receiving a text message,” explained McBride, who snapchats under the handle @Shonduras.

Interesting insight, but it sort of made me wonder, why not text people instead? According to McBride, it’s more complex than that, but his reason to leverage Snapchat was because, “It had a lot of things on a social psychology level that really just pulled people in.”

Apparently, because McBride is the kind of social media star that brands may want to partner with, and who ends up on industry panel discussions.

In fact, at one point, McBride gushed the understatement, “Best panel ever, right?”

Asked to share any bad brand partnership experiences, McBride said he pretty much hasn’t had any, because he ends up self-selecting appropriate brands to partner with. As an example, he cited a discussion with an anonymous alcoholic brand, and pointed out that his follower base is a “pretty young demographic,” so that one just nixed itself.
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