Matt McFarland – Washington Post editor of Innovations: “All of the positive news for Snapchat lately indicates it is on to something. A study found that 9 percent of cellphone owners use Snapchat. About 350 million snaps are shared every day. AllThingsD reported Snapchat is mulling a round of financing that values it at $3.5 billion. For perspective, Instagram sold for $1 billion. Obviously Snapchat isn’t perfect. Much has been written about how photos and videos will linger on your phone’s hard drive. And anyone can take a screengrab of a photo you send them on Snapchat. So there are limits to the privacy it currently provides. These flaws don’t take away from the fact that Snapchat emphasizes privacy significantly more than most social sharing services, and the market of users is responding positively. Snapchat has a chance to address these issues, or another start-up could seize a profitable opportunity. While online privacy is on the ropes, we just received $3.5 billion reasons it’s not dead yet.”
- See also Snapchat Law Enforcement Guide
