Snapchat’s ‘My AI’ expansion bashed
Last week, at the annual Partner Summit, Snapchat announced that its ‘My AI’ GPT-powered chatbot would be rolled out to all users, after originally being released as a Snapchat+ subscriber feature only. ‘My AI’ allows users to chat to an AI entity- with the chat at the top of users’ inboxes- to answer questions. However, this has not been received well by all, and the app has received many 1-star ratings in a backlash against this update. It seems to have infringed on the personal inboxes of users, and cannot be moved. Some see the AI as an annoyance, and some even worry about privacy concerns. It seems the majority of people enjoy using Snapchat to chat to friends and see the AI chatbot as an unwelcome addition.
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Instagram Bios with 5 links
Instagram have updated bios to allow up to 5 links in the profile section – taking Linktree’s necessity away. This is a highly demanded feature, so that users can click and see all the links, driving traffic to sites. Instagram announced that the new feature will allow creators to ‘highlight their passions, bring awareness to causes they care about, promote brands they love, showcase their personal business, and more.’
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BeReal fighting to maintain user interest?
Building a challenger app in the now established social media space is difficult. BeReal is feeling this competition first-hand, as despite the fact it reaches 73 million monthly users, the app is struggling to maintain user interest. The singular-purpose functionality of the app (to take a candid picture once a day after the notification is received) means the app is extremely limited.
BeReal is testing out new functionalities like linking to Spotify and allowing multiple photos – 2 more in a day – if you posted on time. Unlike TikTok, the app is limited and does not fulfil a unique space or need in the app sphere. Time will tell if the app remains supported by users.
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Whatsapp disappearing messages can be kept
Whatsapp introduced disappearing messages back in 2020 and now its new feature ‘Keep in Chat’ allows recipients to save these messages in case they desire the information for later. However, the sender has the ultimate control as to whether the recipient can keep the disappearing messages and can veto their decision. It allows for flexibility of conversations, such as keeping certain information and other messages cleared for space, ease, and privacy. It could also potentially be used by brands for time-limited offers, which disappear. But what do you think? How useful is this message flexibility?
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