Snapchat has unveiled a new in-app feature called Spotlight that is aimed at showcasing the most entertaining Snaps created by the platform's community. Reminiscent of TikTok, Spotlight will allow users to submit creative videos to be shared with the wider Snapchat audience. Users who create the top Snaps on Spotlight will receive a share of $1 million every day until at least the end of the year.
Snapchat was launched in 2011 as a messaging app via which users could share photos and videos that would disappear after a short time. The app has evolved continuously and dramatically since being launched with new features like stories, a Discover section, and the option to subscribe to creator or brand channels. While its main focus has always been one-to-one communication, Snapchat has broadened its feature-set to compete with similar big-hitting apps.
Spotlight an example of that. It takes the short video format popularized by TikTok to drive another means of engagement within the app. As CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood was quoted as saying by the BBC, "Snapchat lives and dies by how engaged users are with its content." With that in mind, Spotlight provides another reason for users to post content and another way for them to discover content.
How To Use Snapchat Spotlight
Snapchat users in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and France will notice the newly added Spotlight menu tab, with the feature coming to more countries soon. Tapping the tab will launch users straight into a continuous reel of short videos created by others in the Snapchat community, which is decided algorithmically by a user's activity and through which they can skip back and forth by swiping up and down. Users can submit their own videos to Spotlight as long as they are over sixteen and the videos adhere to Snapchat's guidelines and terms. Spotlight content is moderated and there are no public comments.
Snapchat's parent company Snap says it will be sharing $1 million every day to "the Snapchatters who create the top Snaps on Spotlight." How many users who submit content to Spotlight will share the payment is unclear, but Snapchat says it will only be a small percentage. It's also not made clear what exactly constitutes a 'top Snap', other than Snapchat citing "various engagement metrics and other factors during each day." Nonetheless, Spotlight offers another means of entertainment and another way to share content for Snapchat users.
Source: Snapchat