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Snapchat’s fall from grace

Once upon a time, Snapchat was the social media darling. Brands fell all over themselves to crack the code on the youth-skewing network with its disappearing messages and silly filters.

But then other channels — cough cough, TikTok — came along and the buzz died down for many social media marketers. But that doesn’t mean Snapchat went away. Young people continued to use the app, but primarily for peer-to-peer communication rather than the broadcast style posting favored by other networks. Still, the Washington Post reports, it was the fifth largest network and used by 59% of teens.

Still, even that market share doesn’t contribute to success. The network laid off 20% of workers last week and are struggling to find a profitable path forward.

Some of their issues, the Post reports, are the same as other companies face: advertisers pulling back, inflation and so on. But others are unique.