Snapchat introduces new Story Explorer for diving deep into events
Snapchat rolled out their video-centric Discovery tab early this year and aside from a few hiccups (like it eating through user’s mobile data), it helped breathe new life into an app many thought was all about messaging. While Discovery made it easy to see content from outlets like CNN, Cosmo, or Daily Mail, it was the Live Stories — curated snaps from other users — that really made it shine.
The problem? Well, right now Live Stories is sort of disjointed. For instance, one second you’re watching a Hollywood premier in Los Angeles, followed by other events nearby. What if you wanted to see more from that premier but couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the Auto Show taking place down the street?
Announced today, Snapchat Stories are getting a useful new feature that allows users to dive into specific events should they tickle their fancy. They’re calling it Story Explorer and allows users to swipe up on some Stories to few more stories from other users at the same event. It’s like getting a multi-camera view without the cable subscription. Unlike Stories which are curated by actual Snapchat employees, Store Explorer (the stream of videos inside the stream) use computer algorithms to choose the content based on objects in the videos, time, location and other data Snapchat is keeping close to their chest.
Snapchat Story Explorer is kicking off today in Los Angeles and New York, arriving in more markets in the months to come. Although they didn’t mention anything about ads hitting Story Explorer, it only makes sense given the obvious increase in user engagement. Keep an eye out for the new “Explore” option arriving in a future update.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is5MVYepFBE
[Snapchat]