The years go by and Snapchat confirms its success in France. In 2024, the application with the white ghost logo on a yellow background claims 21 million active users per day in France, and 443 million worldwide. According to figures from Médiamétrie, this is less than Facebook (26.6 million) and WhatsApp (24 million), but more than its direct competitors Instagram (nearly 16 million) and TikTok (9.5 million).
« We remain the third French social network », trumpets Grégory Gazagne, the general director of Snapchat, on Wednesday December 11 when taking stock of 2024.
Increasingly a network of thirty-somethings
This performance is of course driven by continued success among 15-24 year olds. According to the company, Snapchat is almost a hit with “generation Z”: 91% of this age group uses the application.
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But beware of the tree that hides the forest. In reality, Snapchat continues to age: Gen Z has just over 7 million active users in France. In other words, two-thirds of its 21 million daily active users are older. The social network thus claims 64% of 25-40 year olds, the “Millennials”. And its average age is now 35, a record.
The aging of social networks, once perceived as a sign of outdatedness, does not seem to bother Grégory Gazagne, quite the contrary. “ Snapchat was born in 2011. Its power among Gen Z proves its ability to continually attract younger people. But without leaving aside older users, those who have followed us for a long time and also many new users, attracted by the authenticity of the Snapchat experience compared to other platforms “, he claims.
The least harmful of social platforms
To distinguish itself from its two main competitors Instagram and TikTok, under fire for their impact on the mental health of adolescents, Snapchat cultivates its image as a joyful and authentic application. Its credo: ephemeral messages which aim to “ reproduce real life interactions, without likes or subscribers, eliminating the vanity criteria of other social networks », adds the manager.
Social functions in the circle of friends and family are indeed popular with French users: 90% use the chat, 76% the camera to do their storiesand 71% go to see those of their acquaintances. Thanks to this bet on proximity and naturalness, Snapchat seems more spared than its illustrious competitors from researchers' criticism. “ We found that time spent on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube has a negative impact on mental health. Conversely, time spent on Snapchat had a positive effect on friendships and well-being, but did not have a significant impact on self-esteem », concluded researchers from the University of Amsterdam, in a study released at the beginning of 2024 and widely reported by Snapchat, starting with its boss, Evan Spiegel.
But this idyllic vision of the application remains fragmentary. While describing Snapchat as the least harmful of social platforms, the same study also points to increased risks of anxiety and depression among very regular users. In addition, the ephemeral messages exchanged on the application are considered by many observers as a gateway to a whole host of illicit activities, such as the exchange of child pornography images or the sale of drugs. An association representing 180 parents, whose children died of fentanyl poisoning due to contaminated drugs purchased on Snapchat, even recently set up in the United States.
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Content creators, ad magnets
In addition, Snapchat is based on the same economic model as other social networks: the business of user attention, monetized by advertising. According to its latest financial results, its revenue reached $1.37 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year, linked to the doubling, over one year, of the number of advertisers.
To improve user “engagement”, the platform is increasingly relying on content creators – like Léna Situations, who joined Snapchat in September. The promotion of products, within the framework of paid partnerships with brands, works in full force on the platform.
« There are 15 billion interactions between creators and their fans every day. If a product is highlighted by a creator, the view rate doubles compared to traditional advertisements and the click rate increases by 24% », specifies Grégory Gazagne.
To increase user engagement and therefore revenue, Snap – the name of the company that publishes Snapchat – is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence and augmented reality. New generative AI functionalities have emerged: the user writes an instruction – a “prompt” in the jargon – and can, for example, put themselves in a castle in the Victorian era, or in the Amazon forest.
The social network is also banking on augmented reality (AR) with the fifth generation of Spectacles, glasses that allow you to have 3D experiences thanks to the Snap OS operating system. But the Spectacles are currently only accessible to developers, until they design enough applications to justify the purchase of the glasses for the general public. For 2025, the company expects a more uncertain year due to political instability and the economic crisis, which could push brands to spend less on their marketing.
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