Snapchat Company News & Analysis — The Information

Recent Articles about Snapchat

Art by Mike Sullivan

TikTok Working on Photo Messaging Feature Despite Employee Concerns Over Sextortion

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · May 13, 2025 4:23pm PDT

TikTok has been working on a new feature that will allow users in the U.S. to share photos over direct messages inside the app, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. The move could be a way to encourage more people to use direct messaging on TikTok, a feature that hasn’t taken off as it has on Instagram and Snapchat. But the... TikTok has been working on a new feature that will allow users in the U.S. to share photos over...

Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Instagram Keeps Highlighting the TikTok Threat

By Sylvia Varnham O'Regan and Kaya Yurieff · May 8, 2025 2:39pm PDT

A central tenet of the government's antitrust case against Meta Platforms is that its 2012 Instagram acquisition crushed competition and left consumers with too few social networking options—just Snapchat, Facebook and a few others. Meta has argued that it actually competes with many more, notably TikTok. To buttress its argument, Instagram... A central tenet of the government's antitrust case against Meta Platforms is that its 2012...

World record holder Tobi Amusan (#4 in center) competes in the women's 100 meter hurdles at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Sports Influencers Edge Into Journalists’ Turf

By Sara Germano and Kaya Yurieff · May 7, 2025 2:18pm PDT

I write The Arena column, where last week I took a deep dive into the increasingly central role that creators play in driving young audiences to live sporting events. For anyone who’s watched the Golf Channel, the NBA All-Star Game, or the Olympics, this trend has been brewing for some time.The rise of influencers in sports coincides with the... I write The Arena column, where last week I took a deep dive into the increasingly central role...

Photo via Getty

Where Meta Still Has an Edge on TikTok

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 30, 2025 3:30pm PDT

Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Where Meta Still Has an Edge on TikTok

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 30, 2025 3:30pm PDT

Earnings season is in full swing, but one of the most telling comments about the state of social media today came from courtroom testimony highlighting a persistent challenge facing TikTok—and a perennial strength for Meta Platforms’ apps. Adam Presser, TikTok’s head of U.S. operations and trust and safety, told a judge that only a “very... Earnings season is in full swing, but one of the most telling comments about the state of social...

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo via Getty

Creator Economy

Snap ‘Headwinds’ Warning Overshadows Video Progress

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 29, 2025 3:48pm PDT

Snap is one of the first social media companies to report results, giving investors an early feel for how these advertising-supported businesses are faring. If it’s any guide, the future view was glum, overshadowing gains the company has made with video and subscriptions. The Snapchat parent company said Tuesday it couldn’t provide... Snap is one of the first social media companies to report results, giving investors an early feel...

Clark Miller

Tech’s Favorite Microconferences and Private Summits

By Abram Brown and Sri Muppidi · Apr 26, 2025 6:00am PDT · 10 comments

Nearly anyone who’s anyone agrees: Bigger isn’t better—when it comes to conferences and networking. Indeed, the tech, media and finance elite have increasingly come to prefer an intimate gathering over attending anything giant and sponsored to death. Web Summit, Collision, South by Southwest and pretty much any event thrown by a media... Nearly anyone who’s anyone agrees: Bigger isn’t better—when it comes to conferences and...

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg via Getty

Creator Economy

Why Facebook Mulled Wiping Friends Lists

By Kalley Huang and Kaya Yurieff · Apr 22, 2025 2:02pm PDT

Trials are great for airing technology executives’ private ruminations, including some of their most out-there strategies. Among the most extraordinary that have so far come to light in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta Platforms is CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “potentially crazy idea” in 2022 for refreshing Facebook: ... Trials are great for airing technology executives’ private ruminations, including some of their...

Photo by Shutterstock

Pinterest Went on Acquisition Hunt To Fulfill Ad Dreams

By Catherine Perloff · Apr 16, 2025 12:42pm PDT · 1 comment

Photo by Shutterstock

Pinterest Went on Acquisition Hunt To Fulfill Ad Dreams

By Catherine Perloff · Apr 16, 2025 12:42pm PDT · 1 comment

Pinterest in January considered spending hundreds of millions on an acquisition to supercharge its ad sales, said a person familiar with its plans, underlining its ambition to compete more effectively with bigger firms like Meta Platforms. The company, which hasn’t bought a business of any size before, contemplated buying one of five ad tech... Pinterest in January considered spending hundreds of millions on an acquisition to supercharge...

Daniel Matheson, lead attorney for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, exits court today. Photo via Getty.

Could Meta Have Made Snap a Success?

By Martin Peers · Apr 15, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Mark Zuckerberg is very confident in his own abilities. His testimony in the government’s antitrust trial today—as reported by my colleague Kalley Huang—made clear his belief that both Twitter and Snap would have been better off if they had accepted the buyout bids he made early in their lives. By the same token, he believes Instagram today is... Mark Zuckerberg is very confident in his own abilities. His testimony in the government’s...

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaving a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Photo via Getty

Zuckerberg Considered Instagram Spinoff, Court Hears

By Kalley Huang · Apr 15, 2025 12:01pm PDT

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested spinning off Instagram seven years ago, in part because Instagram’s growth was eroding Facebook’s edge and he worried about an eventual breakup by regulators, according to newly disclosed emails shown in court on the second day of an antitrust trial between the Federal Trade Commission and Meta. The... Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested spinning off Instagram seven years ago, in part...

Meta's Chief Legal Officer, Jennifer Newstead, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House this morning. Photo via Getty.

Tech and Antitrust Trials Don’t Mix

By Martin Peers · Apr 14, 2025 5:00pm PDT

Antitrust trials and tech businesses don’t mix well. As was the case with the government’s ad tech case against Google last year, as well as its case against Meta Platforms, which went to trial in a Washington courtroom today, the lawsuits typically rest on years-old snapshots of an industry that are about as current as a picture you took of... Antitrust trials and tech businesses don’t mix well. As was the case with the government’s ad...

An event hosted by the Creators Guild of America. Photo via CGA.

Guild Unveils Creator ‘Rider’

By Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo · Apr 9, 2025 2:15pm PDT

An event hosted by the Creators Guild of America. Photo via CGA.

Creator Economy

Guild Unveils Creator ‘Rider’

By Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo · Apr 9, 2025 2:15pm PDT

A nonprofit is trying to bring more legal rigor to the creator economy. Creators Guild of America is releasing a legal document for creators that outlines basic protections for their deals with brands, social platforms and agencies. It aims to provide a standard for the industry, covering topics including timely payments and how a creator's... A nonprofit is trying to bring more legal rigor to the creator economy. Creators Guild of...

Outtake CEO Alex Dhillon. Photo courtesy of Outtake.

The Year-Old Security Startup Keeping OpenAI’s Name Off Phishing Lures

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Apr 9, 2025 7:00am PDT

Large language models have a lot of great applications but a few bad ones as well: for instance, they help criminals launch targeted cyberattacks faster than they previously did. In the year after ChatGPT was released, the number of sites found to be “phishing,” or trying to convince victims to disclose their ID and payment credentials,... Large language models have a lot of great applications but a few bad ones as well: for instance,...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo via Getty

OpenAI Discusses Building Its First Data Center for Storage

By Anissa Gardizy · Mar 26, 2025 6:30am PDT

OpenAI recently discussed purchasing billions of dollars’ worth of data storage hardware and software, according to three people involved in the private discussions. To house the hardware, the company has considered building its own data center for the first time, two of these people said. Such a deal would make OpenAI one of the world’s biggest... OpenAI recently discussed purchasing billions of dollars’ worth of data storage hardware and...

Art by Clark Miller

Heroes, Villains and a Startup Spy

By Abram Brown · Mar 22, 2025 7:00am PDT

Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside the Deel-Rippling spy drama• The Arena: Exclusive new database! Meet all the techies who own sports teams• The Top 5: The people who help Silicon Valley hone its taste in art • Politics and Policy: Why Section 230 may finally get changed • Biotech: The woolly mammoth gets... Welcome, Weekenders! In this newsletter:• The Big Read: Inside the Deel-Rippling spy drama• The...

Art by Clark Miller.

Section 230 May Finally Get Changed as Lawmakers Prep New Bill

By Paris Martineau · Mar 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

Art by Clark Miller.

Politics and Policy

Section 230 May Finally Get Changed as Lawmakers Prep New Bill

By Paris Martineau · Mar 21, 2025 6:00am PDT · 5 comments

In June 1995, two young congressmen reached across the aisle to introduce legislation that would become the defining legal protection of the internet era: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields internet companies from liability for content created by users. Now, nearly 30 years later, another bipartisan duo hopes to... In June 1995, two young congressmen reached across the aisle to introduce legislation that would...

Art by Mike Sullivan

Are Enterprises Actually Using Reasoning Models?

By Stephanie Palazzolo · Mar 13, 2025 8:34am PDT

The excitement around reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1 got me thinking: How much are businesses actually using them? The answer might be: not as much as you’d think.When I ask business executives at startups and large firms about their companies’ usage of reasoning models to power their products, a common refrain I’ve... The excitement around reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 and DeepSeek’s R1 got me thinking: How...