SNAPCHAT LAUNCHES TIKTOK RIVAL “SPOTLIGHT”

TikTok now has another opponent, Snapchat. Snap is launching “Spotlight”, a new section of its app that will showcase user-created videos. Snapchat may have invented the whole concept of "Stories" with vanishing photos and videos back in 2014, but the app universe has changed and now Snapchat is altering along with it.

Spotlight will serve up Snaps to viewers algorithmically, based on what users spend the most time watching and liking. Users can also click on hashtags within Snaps on Spotlight to see other Snaps around the same topic or event. Snap is also throwing some serious money at the effort. It has committed to pay out over $1 million per day to Snapchat users whose snaps do well within Spotlight. Spotlight is launching in 11 countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Australia.

Although the format will be familiar to anyone who’s ever watched TikTok, Snap says it has made specific decisions based on its user base. Spotlight snaps won’t feature a public comments section, and profiles themselves are private by default, so Snapchatters can keep their accounts locked down while still posting content.

From an advertising perspective, it's the perfect captive audience to serve ads to and from an entertainment perspective, it's just pure fun. Stories used to be the format everyone wanted to copy, thanks to its achievement on Snapchat. Now, it’s the TikTok video. Thus, Spotlight is a new direction for Snapchat.