When Snapchat first burst onto the social media scene in late 2011, it was widely viewed as a limited and silly app with few practical uses. While news outlets pushed splashy headlines about it being a “sexting app,” most thought that sending temporary pictures to friends was a fad that would run its course. But Snapchat has grown by leaps and bounds, and has become so much more than just a portal for nude photos and silly videos. And yesterday, during its coverage of the San Bernardino shooting, it became a breaking news platform.

Details are still being unraveled about the tragic events in San Bernardino, California yesterday that led 14 dead and many injured. But as with almost every mass shooting or highly publicized tragedy since the dawn of the internet age, viewers from across the country and world checked news sites and social media platforms for the latest explanation on what was happening. Snapchat joined that fray by creating a “California Shooting” live story that allowed users to upload the photos and videos they had to the app. The Snapchat team then selected which ones to feature in order to create a full picture for viewers, in addition to writing news commentary that appeared over the pictures and informed viewers even further.

Interesting to watch how @Snapchat has become a gatekeeper of the news. #SanBernardino pic.twitter.com/Akctc8fwnr

— Josh Solomon (@therealjsolo) December 3, 2015

Snapchat’s story of #SanBernardino pulls you in close and suggests the potential of stitched real-time documentary. pic.twitter.com/i3HbeSH4Kh

— Hamza Shaban (@hshaban) December 3, 2015

People are tweeting about @Snapchat‘s special #sanbernardino news roundup for good reason. Very compelling. pic.twitter.com/K8oPM7xoB3. — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) December 3, 2015

This isn’t the first time that Snapchat has featured live coverage of an event. It covered the Pope’s highly publicized visit to the United States this fall, as well as the GOP debates. But this is the first time that Snapchat has really extended its coverage to breaking news, especially with such a somber and serious subject.

While many have applauded Snapchat for its breakthrough and revolutionary approach to covering real time news, others have expressed concern. After all, despite what Snapchat is evolving into, many still use it for purely entertainment purposes. Advertising coverage of a mass shooting may be disturbing to some browsing the app and unaware of the situation. Others have posited that it’s disrespectful to the victims.

While those are all incredibly valid points, real time coverage of breaking news stories isn’t going to end any time soon. Whether or not Snapchat is the appropriate vehicle for that coverage is certainly a fair discussion, but Snapchat’s drive to continue monetizing its app, and Americans’ vociferous appetite for breaking news probably mean that this new feature is here to stay.    

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Snapchat Covers San Bernardino Shooting, Becomes Serious News App appeared first on Law Street.

In our society, millennials constantly want to stay updated on important events occurring in the world. With today’s technology, most news events can be checked through our cellphones, whether we use news and social media apps or online sites. But one of the hottest social media apps is now getting into the game–Instagram is now trying to get involved in real time news.

This makes a lot of sense, as the American Press Institute did a study that shows 56 percent of Americans actually use their phones to access the news. Studies have also shown that people from the ages of 13-18 are on their phone for an average of four hours every weekday. People are constantly on their devices checking their Twitter, Facebook, and other apps for the newest trends or stories.

Instagram is now trying to be used for more than just posting casual pictures and videos by creating a new feature that will show real-time news to its users. Instagram CEO and Cofounder Kevin Systrom said in an interview:

People are hungry for what’s happening right now in the world. All of us in social media and regular media, we’re all competing for the same thing, which is this gap between something happening in the world and you knowing about it.

The popular app seems to be following the trend of social media companies like Twitter and trying to become a main source for news. Both tweeters and instagrammers log life experiences as they happen. To date, Twitter has been a better outlet for news because it has a more detailed search engine and features that better highlight relevant information. But Instagram has some advantages. Twitter’s growth has only jumped 18 percent to 302 million users in the past year, as opposed to Instagram’s 50 percent growth from 200 million to 300 million in only nine months.

Many see this update as Instagram trying to compete with Twitter’s new product-in-the-making–“Project Lightning”–which organizes tweets, photos and videos based on live events. Twitter also bought live stream startup Periscope earlier this year. But unlike Twitter, Instagram has no intention to stream events. Instead it is going to continue with photos and videos and utilize those types of media to cover the news. Systrom believes that users, especially journalists, will thoroughly enjoy the new features. He stated, “So if you’re a journalist and you want to see live photos happening at any location in our system, you can simply type in the location and up comes the page.” People seem to be agreeing with him so far.

Loving this new update, thanks #Instagram! #SocialMediaTools #SMM http://t.co/mLWggRUjT6

— #SocialMediaQueen™ (@stephanievoong) June 23, 2015

I love the new @instagram update. Y’all made the Explore page even better than it already was.

— Samuel Satterfield (@samuel_satt) June 23, 2015

Instagram is ranked as the second most used social media platform among young people. With the new update, users are now able to watch events unfold in real-time as images are uploaded to the app. By improving its “Explore” tab, people can see images taken at a specific place or under the most popular hashtags. The app also introduced a new search function that lets users search for images by people, hashtag and place. The updated Explore page will only be available for U.S. users as of now, but company team members said they are working to bring it to the rest of the world after they fine-tune the experience in the U.S.

With its constant growth rate and new features, I would not be surprised if Instagram surpasses Twitter’s dominance in real time news. This is a smart move for a company on a rise–expect to see it attract even more users and revenue.

Taelor Bentley

Taelor is a member of the Hampton University Class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Taelor at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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