Using Snapchat for storytelling is a brand journalism win

Many news outlets are embracing the mobile social media platform as a way to get their content in front of younger audiences. Here’s why you should join them.

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The Times is among a growing number of news media outlets—including NPR, CNN, ESPN and The Wall Street Journal—that are adding Snapchat to their storytelling toolboxes.

The mobile app, which was introduced in 2011, enables users to send and receive videos and photos—but they can be viewed for only a short period. The content’s brief life span isn’t deterring professional storytellers from giving Snapchat a try.

Chris Snider, assistant professor of multimedia at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, says Snapchat holds promise for journalists “because it’s a great storytelling platform with some creative tools like drawing, adding text over photos and mixing photos and videos to tell a story. And it has a very engaged audience that is paying attention to what is posted there.”

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