Snapchat Adds Content Embeds and Uses AI To Expand Backgrounds
The social media landscape is one of constant catch-up and copying. Like Instagram and TikTok have long offered to users, people can now embed content from Snapchat on external websites.
“Today, we are launching web embeds for Lenses, Spotlight videos, Public Stories, and Public Profiles. We love seeing our community’s creativity on display, and embeds make it easier than ever to share Snapchat content in an article or website,” Snap explains in a news release.
When viewing embedded Snapchat content on the web, like with TikTok or Instagram embeds, users can click on the embedded Snapchat content to jump directly to the content.
Snap explains that to embed Snapchat content, users must view the desired content on the web and then tap the “embed” icon within the share sheet to view and copy the embed code, similar to how embedding other content on the web works.
The ability to embed content from Snapchat is a natural progression after Snap allowed its users to access Snapchat on web browsers late last year. Embeddable content is also a shrewd feature to introduce, given that Snap has been working for years to expand its user base. The platform has continually been relatively quick to adopt AI-powered features. It has introduced features to broaden its appeal beyond its original use case, sharing content with friends and followers.
Snap has tried a wide range of new features and usability tweaks to turn Snapchat into more of a content consumption app, much like TikTok, and less of a relatively isolated social media platform.
One recent move to entice content creators to use Snapchat is Snap’s Lens Creator Rewards program. The initiative pays augmented reality (AR) creators who develop Lenses that prove popular with Snapchat’s users. New and existing Lens Studio members can earn up to $7,200 monthly if they build a top-performing Lens.
This and other initiatives have seemingly positively impacted Snapchat’s user count. Per Statista, following slowed growth in 2018, Snapchat has steadily grown in terms of daily active users. The Social Shepherd reports that an average of 5 billion Snaps are created by Snapchat users every day.
Snap says that the app averages 397 million daily active users, more than 250 million of whom use the app’s augmented reality features. Further, the company claims that more than four million people subscribe to the premium Snapchat+ service, which costs $4 per month.
As Engadget reports, Snap has also expanded its available artificial intelligence tools to offer Snapchat+ subscribers the ability to expand their background using generative AI, similar to something like Generative Fill in Adobe Photoshop.
Image credits: Snap
