Snapchat redesigns Discover, lets users subscribe to individual publishers

Snapchat, a mobile app that lets users chat, have video calls, share quick video recordings with friends, and check out content from select media outlets, today announced that it has redesigned certain parts of the app, following VentureBeat’s report last month that the redesigned app may become available on June 7.

The most drastic changes affect the Discover function, where users can watch multiple videos from the likes of BuzzFeed, Food Network, IGN, MTV, and Tastemade. Now when users check out Discover, they’ll see a tile with a video frame and a headline from the latest content from each publisher. If something looks interesting, they can dive in and watch, or read. That way, at a glance users can get a better feel for what each publisher has available for the day. No need to click on the circle with the logo for each publisher and wade through each channel in hopes that you’ll like something.

As my colleagues Harrison Weber and Ken Yeung wrote last month:

A tiled feed a la Instagram could offer brands more ways to stand out on Snapchat, and could also draw more eyeballs to the likes of ESPN, Vox, and the Daily Mail, ultimately boosting ad revenue for the ephemeral messaging startup.

But that’s not all. The new look of Snapchat could foster deeper engagement with publishers. Now, if you really like a specific publisher on Snapchat — say, Refinery29 — you can press down and hold a story to subscribe and get every single update under a new subscriptions header in the stories section of the app, right alongside updates from friends and live channels. Being on Snapchat on its own is a way to stand out, but now things can become more exclusive and personal.

This new type of direct interaction with users could inspire more media outlets to start posting their own articles and videos on Snapchat in hopes of connecting more with younger people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob3TH9IEnpk

Snapchat has more than 150 million daily active users, according to a report last week. Based in Venice, California, the company recently raised $1.81 billion in new funding, Reuters said last month.