Facebook is slowly gutting Snapchat

Snapchat is still alive — but barely

Snapchat and Facebook logos.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Wikimedia Commons, helgy716/iStock)

I was recently watching a since-canceled sitcom on Netflix, when an older character asked in befuddlement: "What's Snapchat?" The joke was meant to play on the common trope of "the olds" being confused by technology. But for me, it had a different effect: It reminded me that Snapchat even existed at all.

My forgetfulness was less a question of my own advancing age than the fact that Snapchat is no longer the relevant cultural force it was just a couple of years ago. The company once synonymous with tech-hungry teens has been usurped in the public consciousness by its competitors. This week, however, Snapchat released its fourth quarter results, and surprisingly, it has managed to staunch the bleeding somewhat. It didn't lose any users, and Wall Street was positively jubilant: The stock popped 20 percent after hours.

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Navneet Alang

Navneet Alang is a technology and culture writer based out of Toronto. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, New Republic, Globe and Mail, and Hazlitt.