Snapchat hack affects 4.6 million users

The usernames and phone numbers for 4.6 million Snapchat accounts have been downloaded by hackers, who temporarily posted the data online.

A website called SnapchatDB released the data but censored the last two digits of the phone numbers.

It has since been taken offline but a cached version is still available.

The hack comes days after an Australian firm, Gibson Security, warned of vulnerabilities in Snapchat's app which it said could be exploited by hackers.

Gibson Security said it was not involved in the hack: "We know nothing about SnapchatDB, but it was a matter of time till something like that happened," the firm tweeted.

The hackers behind the website that published the data said they had exploited the security flaw highlighted by Gibson Security.

"We used a modified version of gibsonsec's exploit/method," they were quoted as saying by tech blog, Tech Crunch.

Stronger safeguards?

Snapchat has grown in popularity as an app that allows people to share pictures, safe in the knowledge they delete themselves after being viewed.

Snapchat explained in 60 seconds

It has a feature called "Find Friends", which allows users to upload their address book contacts to help find friends who are also using the service.

In its report published on 25 December, Gibson Security warned that a vulnerability on the Snapchat app could be used to reveal the phone numbers of users.

The firm said it had first warned Snapchat about this four months ago, adding that "nothing had been really been improved upon".

Vulnerability

Gibson claimed that it had been able to crunch through ten thousand phone numbers of Snapchat users "in approximately 7 minutes on a gigabit line on a virtual server".

In response to the Gibson report, Snapchat acknowledged a potential vulnerability but said it had taken measures to protect user data.

"Their latest changes are still not too hard to circumvent" (SnapchatDB)

"Theoretically, if someone were able to upload a huge set of phone numbers, like every number in an area code, or every possible number in the US, they could create a database of the results and match usernames to phone numbers that way," it said in a blogpost last week.

"Over the past year we've implemented various safeguards to make it more difficult to do. We recently added additional counter-measures and continue to make improvements to combat spam and abuse."

However, the hackers behind SnapchatDB, the site that published the phone numbers, said the measures were not strong enough.

"Even now the exploit persists. It is still possible to scrape this data on a large scale," they claimed.

"Their latest changes are still not too hard to circumvent."

Article Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25572661

Social Media Marketing what to look out for in 2014

Social media has become a massive part of our day to day lives. It is also a key tool when it comes to marketing your business and its products or services. Businesses across the world big and small have been taking advantage of social media to engage with their customers. We are going to to take a look at some of our predictions for 2014.

Image: http://bryandigital.wordpress.com

The Micro-Video Takeover

The revolution has already started with the increase in popularity of social networks such as Vine, Instagram and Snapchat. In a fast moving world the 3 minute video has been killed off by 6 seconds of fireworks. The rise of these networks has led to more real time video sharing, where people are creating and sharing direct from their smartphone meaning you could be anywhere doing anything and able to share a video. These 6 second wonders are sure to change the startegy of most videos going on social media now.

Pictures means success

Brands that have used images to share content have huge success with some brands saying that Pinterest and Instagram have actually increased revenue by 5%. This will continue in 2014 and can only get bigger with the likes of Pinterest becoming very important power players rather than being a female dominated network. This is already proving true with Pinterest being the fastest growing network but it also provides greater traffic as well than anywhere else.

Google+ will come into its own

Google+ has always been seen to be chasing the pack but 2014 could be the year that people start to see the full potential of Google+. Google+ currently has the 2nd highest monthly users and that can only increase, on top of this it also has a bigger ownership in terms of of search power. As more and more people begin to use Google's products users will find that they are using Google+ more as integrates all interactions in one place across all Google products. Google authorship will also become a major part of its rise as it will play a huge part in Google's new ranking algorithm.

Social Media is a must if you want to survive

While social media is a big marketing tool at the moment in 2014 it is going to become essential for every business not to just have but be using to engage and promote their brand with customers. Many are seeing how the positive influence of social media is increasing traffic, creating more leads and gains in revenue. Businesses will realise that they will need some knowledge to make sure they take advantage of social media so training or management of a business social media accounts will be needed.

3 Ways to Become a More Visual Social Butterfly

More and more, it seems like people don’t use the internet to read. They use the internet to see. Whether they’re clicking through photos on their friend’s Facebook wall, pinning recipes they want to try, or watching cats do hilarious things on YouTube, users want visuals. And not just any visuals, they’re drawn to images that pop, images that make an emotional impact, images that are useful. It explains the popularity of sites like Pinterest and Instagram and apps like SnapChat. People just love sharing images.

But how do brands fit into this? According to Digital Insights, who compiled an impressive number of social media statistics for the year 2013, surprisingly well. According to a survey, 46% of web users turn to social media before making a purchase. While they’re on those networks, it is the visual information that stands out. Socially Sorted, who published an infographic on the subject of the increasingly visual social landscape, explains that users are more likely to engage with brands who post pictures more than any other type of media. In addition, photos on Facebook get 53% more likes than any other kind of content.

Okay, you’re convinced. Now how can your business become more visual? Keep reading for some great advice!

Less Words, More Images

Next time you’re about to post to your social media account, stop and think for a moment. Would this post be better-expressed or more successful with a beautiful image alongside it? The answer will be yes 99% of the time. Show, don’t tell.

But how do you come up with these images? If you don’t have a professional photographer or designer on board, try purchasing stock photos or using Creative Commons images. If those won’t do and you’re not a great photographer, slap a filter or some words over it and no one will be any the wiser!

Be the Source of Creative New Content

Did you know that 80% of all pins on Pinterest are re-pins? That means that 80% of the images on Pinterest are just re-shared images that somebody else pinned to the site originally! And although Facebook’s image sharing works in a different way, the number of content creators is still relatively small compared to the number of content sharers.

Take advantage of this by being the source of interesting content that people want to share. Quotes, memes, and videos share well on Facebook, and quotes, infographics, and tutorial-style images do well on Pinterest. Depending on where you want to grow your audience, keep in mind what does best on each platform. A highly-detailed image explaining pricing for web design might be extremely successful on Pinterest, where long and tall images have the advantage, but cropped and squeezed onto a Facebook feed it won’t do as well.

Crowdsource Visual Content

Some of the most successful social contests involve user-submitted images. In this type of contest, your fans and followers create an original image according to your guidelines and submit it to you. At the same time they share it with their own friends and followers. Their followers see it and may choose to participate as well, expanding the reach of your contest. Even after the contest is over and the prize has been awarded, you have a unique gallery of creative images that followers might enjoy.

To see an example of this, look no further than Colonel Meow’s “Cat Fro” photo album. Since he is one of the most widely-followed cats on Facebook, fans seeking their moment of fame were quick to stick their cat on top of their head, snap a photo, and start submitting images. Even though the collection is no longer being added to, the album is still full of cat afro photos to see and share.

Hopefully these three tips will help you become more visual on social media. Just remember, don’t tell when you can show, create instead of curating at least some of the time, and take advantage of crowdsourcing when possible.

InstaChat - Instagram launches Instagram Direct

Instagram announced on its blog yesterday that it was joining the direct message party, allowing users to send messages as well as pictures and videos in private to 15 of their followers. They have jumped on the bandwagon to try and complete with similar platforms such as Snapchat and Whatsapp. But the history of social media suggests it won't be easy at all for Instagram to attract users away from platforms that have had this function.

Facebook revealed the new features on Thursday, showing off the new private messaging features, and 'the extent of its Snapchat envy', as Scott Marlin and USA Today put it. Instagram direct is widely thought to be a reply to the rise of Snapchat. For those that don't know, Snapchat allows friends to send pictures and videos which deletes themselves after a few seconds, similar to the messages Tom Cruise receives in Mission Impossible! But it also begs the question; did Facebook implement this feature as their offer to purchase Snapchat was turned down?

Instagram doesn't directly rip off the Snapchat features, as these pictures that are sent privately won't delete themselves. You can only send the direct message to 15 people as well and they must follow you. Still though it still feels like a response to Snapchat's ever growing popularity and as history suggests it's going to be hard for Instagram to take a chunk out of Snapchats following.

Social media history has proven that once something has been successful, the competitors that try to copy and recreate it, just don't have the same success. For example, look at Google+; this has been Google's most successful attempt at competing with Facebook and, although the amount of users is growing, its still not in the same league. There is a long list of competitors that tried copying what others are doing and that have just failed; the likes of Google Buzz, Yahoo Buzz and Apples Ping have all failed however Ping is being incorporated using Facebook and Twitter.

So the question needing to be asked is why have some of the largest tech companies failed at creating a social network. One suggestion is that online networks grow like offline networks. So just copying what your competitors means you won't get the same audience, nor create the same culture successful networks have been able to create.

But, obviously, we don't know if Instagram Direct will fail; it could be a huge success. What has happened in the past suggests that just copying similar features won't be enough to attract an audience. So this could cause Facebook to go back and try to purchase Snapchat again in 2014; however, it seems Google will be looking into this as well after reportedly having a 4 billion dollar off rejected as well.

Snapchat turns down Facebook - a battle of wits?

This week, Facebook, the social media giant, offered little old Snapchat $3 billion for their business... and was rejected! Is this a sign of the power that start-up apps and services are holding? How quickly has Snapchat been so popular and how long can it last? There could be an argument that along with our fast paced lifestyles we are preferring fast paced apps; simpler and more direct, fun and uncomplicated. The rejection could be more than a slightly reddened Facebook, but the possibility that the ground is shrinking beneath them.

 

Image: http://b-i.forbesimg.com

Mark Zuckerburg may have been slightly shaken by the refusal and could well be looking elsewhere to branch out. He may even try to contend with the fun app... But who knows? All we know is Snapchat aren't willing to sell up yet.
Is this a foolish move? It is a possibility, but still it is a relatively new concept and people love it. Apart from the initial connotation that it would be used for, shall we say, explicit photo sharing Snapchat is now more generally used for friends to communicate in a quick and entertaining way.

The photo-sharing app also boasts of the photos being shown only for 3 - 10 seconds... the idea being that the photos won't haunt you forever. There are loopholes to this, and apps available that back up these pictures to be saved, but if it's just for a laugh I guess there is nothing to worry about.

Snapchat have also introduced their 'Stories' extra; allowing you to use both photos and videos to make up a 30 second storyboard to send. This is a strong and effective idea, and from a business point of view, Snapchat are utilising their ideas to the full.

It is not a great surprise, considering its growing (and possibly unexpected) success, that people are trying to buy them out now. Even Google have had a bid, an even higher $4 billion.

 

Image: http://www.tech-wd.com

But the hysteria of this really just stems from media spin and a bit of gossip. We love the idea of scandal and change and this is one of the biggest social media stories of the week.

We wonder what will be next for companies like Snapchat, how much more can they develop? By the looks of things, they will probably still have some ideas ready to launch. Facebook may have to stop chasing other people's ideas with money and come up with some of their own.

As ever, stringent marketing strategies will need to be researched and executed, quickly. It is becoming clearer each day that the spectrum of social media users is widening. And different users are obviously going to want different thing... quite simple.

So whereas Facebook started with university students when the demographic were screaming out for online communication; Snapchat has risen at a different time completely. It is now much more common for teenagers as young as 13 to have a smart phone. This generation have grown up in a touch-screen technological era; they are computer savvy and ready for new technology. This group of social media users may find Facebook, dare I say it, old-fashioned.

The second set of social media users that have Snapchat are 20-30 year olds. It satisfies a need for us to be with people (online) constantly. We love to text and instant message, this is taking it a step further and it is still proving itself to be popular.

Right now, social media is being dominated with the idea of new business but really the users themselves don't care about that. They just want a lively and effective service that they can enjoy. Snapchat is definitely delivering here but no doubt it will be overtaken by the next big thing in no time.

Snapchat are arguably doing the right thing turning down Facebook and Google, and maybe it will get these big companies to rethink their own strategies but an essential part of business is to know when to buy and when to sell. Let's hope neither leave it too long.

What do you think about social media business deals?

The evolution of the selfie... and is it extinct yet?

The ‘selfie’... We all know what it means and I think there is still a state of flux whether it is cool or not. Personally, I feel selfies are acceptable... sometimes. Instagram is always flooded with selfies and in that arena I think they are bearable... on Facebook I do not agree. But this is just my personal opinion and there are many out there. Now lets find out how this trend began, developed and now (according to rumour) is dying out.

Image: www.warwickdailynews.com.au

In the early 2000’s with sites such as MySpace there was an increased amount of ‘self portraits’ – I use the term lightly. Since, this has moved on and with cameras and mobile phones improving their technology all our selfie needs are being met.

It is rather a self-indulgent and immodest way to show the world how good you can look but we are all guilty of it. And the amount of different types are incredible; although they all have the same air to them. We have the selfie with a friend, in bed, pet selfies, in the bathroom, on the bus, on the beach, on public transport, at the gym… the list goes on. Like mentioned above I find selfies on Facebook rather cringe-worthy but on Instagram I agree and for SnapChat they are practically a necessity.

Now, not to become too philosophical about the whole thing but is it just another big, ugly product of our generation? A disposable and immaculate picture trying to convey how cool, sexy or unique we are? I guess there are plenty of people that feel this way but I don’t know many that interact with social media who are not accountable of indulging in this trend.

So the big question, are we sick of it yet? Is our ‘fly by night’ generation tiring of it? Or is self-recognition going to stay a prominent feature in our online world…maybe it will just be altered a little?

Around 3 weeks ago we saw the launch of the ‘belfie’. For those who don’t know what this is, it’s a picture someone posts of their behind. Crude – yes, unashamed – yes... popular – you bet your bottom! Mainly, as it has been started off with famous women with particularly enviable derrieres it has been a big focal point and huge change to the selfie fad. It has also drawn our focus again back to celebrities and how they are truly the beautiful ones that should be photographed unlike us amateurs. Although it is a hot topic right now, I personally feel it has already lost its lustre and will never be as popular as the timeless selfie.

 

Image: www.dailymail.co.uk

So what’s next? If we are moving away for your everyday selfie, are extreme selfies next? I guess people could selfie whilst undergoing or performing surgery, or bungee jumping, or doing extreme sports... this is weird and wonderful and could truly work.

Sadly, during my research I found a few articles regarding funeral selfies. Now I did not delve too deep into this as the sound of it truly turns my stomach. But I guess for all the good and bad bits, that’s what the Internet is famous for – bringing peoples lives (and deaths, apparently) together. I personally still feel mobile phones have no business being anywhere near a funeral but hey call me old fashioned. Many cultures have different attitudes towards death, different attitudes towards photography also, so maybe it’s just a change in our culture.

I still believe the good old-fashioned selfie won’t really go out of fashion, it will just adapt. I do retain a little sadness that our lives revolve around phones and photos, but I still feel the aspect of sharing is wonderful. It would be lovely if everyone stopped trying to look ‘immaculate’ or ‘fun’ or ‘cool’ all the time but I guess that’s what some people aim to be. I think if you abide by the social selfie guidelines you can’t go too wrong, just know your limits and try not to spend too long looking at yourself... You will miss a lot of cool stuff happening around you!

New SnapHack App Allows You to Save Snapchats

A new application, called SnapHack, was released on iTunes on the 14th October allowing users to save Snapchats to their phones. The app counteracts Snapchat’s purpose of sending instant pictures which self-destruct automatically after a short amount of time by allowing users to save messages that they receive from Snapchat, without the sender having any knowledge. Will this change the way that we use Snapchat and defeat its intentions?

In order to use the app you have to log in to SnapHack with the same username and password that you use for Snapchat. When you open SnapHack all unopened Snapchat images will then download onto the app, and you will be able to save them to your phone. The app will only work if the first time you open the image is in SnapHack and it has not already by opened previously in Snapchat as anything that has already been opened in Snapchat will self-destruct as it normally does. This defeats the purpose which Snapchat was created for – so that you would be able to send instant pictures to your friends which would not be stored for longer than the time frame which you specified. Snapchat was also designed so that you could send the images to only the friends that you wanted to allow to see the image, however, now there is the possibility that SnapHack users can download the image to their own phone and then they will have control of whether they wish to distribute it to more people without the original sender ever knowing.

The app is being sold for £1.49 on the Apple app store and according to the founder, Darren Jones, its purpose is to point out the dangers of sending images that you might not want people to see to others, as nothing is 100% secure once it has been uploaded to the Internet. The extent to which he is actually educating Snapchat users can be questioned, as this new feature has potential to do much more harm than good.

Snapchat users could previously have saved screen shots of Snaps which they had been sent but this new feature is different because it does not inform the sender that their image has been saved. Users of SnapHack will be able to save an image sent to them via Snapchat, and could pass the image on to others while the sender is left completely unaware at what might be going on.

This leads to the question of how great the demand for an app like this will be? Will people be deterred from using the app because they feel that it might change the way that Snapchat is used? If you are aware that your images might be saved without your knowledge, it could lead the app to become less fun, taking away its original intentions – that you could really be yourself, without having to worry that it would go down as a permanent internet record.

However, there are some problems with the App. SnapHack is currently in contravention of Snapchat’s terms of service which states that it does not allow the development of ‘any third-party applications that interact with user content or the service without our prior consent’. The inventor of the app, Darren Jones, told the BBC that: ‘Snapchat has not been in touch and I imagine it’s only a matter of time until they request that my app is removed… But my app just proves and informs people that these apps exist and people need to be careful’.

Although there is the possibility of the App being closed down, there have also been rumours that Jones is now working on an improved version of SnapHack which allows Snapchat users to forward saved messages to other friends.

With the latest introduction of Snapchat Stories, and the increasing use of Snapchat by brands to advertise on the platform, it has been seen as an app growing in popularity and with a lot of potential. Do you think the creation of apps like SnapHack will change this?

What do you think?

Would you download the SnapHack app? Or would it ruin your experience of Snapchat?

Snapchat Stories - A New Feature

Last week Snapchat released its latest surprise feature – Snapchat Stories – an update which allows users to create their own ‘story’ which lasts for a day, signalling a new way to share photos and videos over this social network. What does this new feature offer in terms of marketing possibilities? And what does it signal for the future of Snapchat?

www.ibtimes.com

The Snapchat team announced on its website last week, “We’re introducing Snapchat Stories. A totally new way to share your day with friends - or everyone. It’s fun and ephemeral, just like Snapchat.” The Snapchat Stories feature still works in a very similar fashion to the original Snapchat function (where photos and videos are sent to friends and magically self-destruct after a set time) however, instead of disappearing after a maximum of 10 seconds, the Snaps now remain visible for a full 24 hours after they are shared. This allows friends to view the video multiple times before it is eventually erased from the system. The Snapchat Team hope that this will create a narrative, which can be built on by adding more content and creating a 24 hour story update of your life to your friends. As the posts become older than the 24 hour limit they are deleted, so as to create space for new stories and act as a constant update on your life.

www.techcrunch.com

The CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, hopes that this feature will encourage users to act more like their true selves, instead of creating an ‘online persona’ like they might on Facebook or Twitter. This is because on Facebook your timeline provides a transparent view of your life and posts do not disappear leaving them there for a significant length of time and possibly allowing them to lose their original context and meaning. However, with Snapchat there is the ability to send out a story to last only for one day – in this way you can act like your true self, knowing that it will only be viewed for a short amount of time and will not go down on your online history to be referred to years down the line.

Although some may believe that this new feature takes away from the instantaneous nature of the application, the Snapchat team is keen to point out that it still represents the same principles as before – it is a way of instantly sharing your life events. The team commented that “Your Story never ends and it’s always changing. The end of your Story today is the beginning of your Story tomorrow. And each Snap in your Story includes a list of everyone who views it”. Therefore, the emphasis still appears to be on instant updates of your life to your friends, even though they are now available for longer.

What this new feature does provide is a significant new marketing opportunity. Companies have already started to use Snapchat as away to advertise their brands to the correct demographic, for instance Taco Bell and MTV’s Geordie Shore, who have utilised the young age group of this social network to send out their latest updates in a new and exciting manner. With the possibility of now creating stories and videos which last for a more than the original 10 second clips – the potential for brands to use the application has increased greatly. The recognition of Snapchat’s value to brands can be seen in the promotional videos which were sent out to advertise the new feature to all snapchat users. To debut their new feature, Snapchat partnered with a number of brands and musicians to show you their stories – for example the bands Smallpools and Guards. Does this signal that Snapchat is moving to a more business-like approach, hoping to gain revenue from capitalising on companies who would like to advertise on their platform by sharing stories? Will this lead to the monetization of Snapchat?

www.nbcnews.com

What do you think?

Have you used Snapchat stories yet? Do you think that it is leading the way for a change in the use of Snapchat in the future?

The Rise of Snapchat

Snapchat is a photo messaging app which allows people to connect with friends through sending instant photos or videos, which automatically self-destruct after a few seconds. The app, which has seen a significant rise in its use, now sees as many as 350 million photo uploads daily, a number which rivals Facebook. Why has this app seen such a rise in popularity over the past few years? And how can this activity be channelled into a form of social media mobile marketing for brands?

Snapchat has been extremely popular as a social media network among the younger generations, especially teenagers who like to share their life updates in an instant manner and often through the medium of photography. Snapchat in particular reflects the growing use of instant messaging among teenagers which they access through their smartphones, however, by including disappearing photos it adds a new dimension to existing instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp. Snapchat has seen its appeal among this audience because it allows them to send a picture of what is happening to them right at that moment, and is something that is not permanent – the picture is supposed to be grainy, fun and instantaneous – this is all part of its appeal to the younger generation. Snapchat is also a more private way of messaging your friends – with the user only selecting a particular friend or group of friends to send the image to and only receiving messages from their friends.

The ability to draw on the images you send is also a feature not seen on any of the other social media networks, and allows inventive individuals to create interesting Snaps to send to their friends – increasing the fun, and unique nature of the app and encouraging its popularity. Some individuals even use the app to create ‘SnapChat Art’ showing the potential for the use of the app for different means.

The popularity of Snapchat among teenagers and young people has led some brands to target it as a platform for marketing their products or their brand to this demographic. The first brand to use Snapchat as a marketing tool to reach their target audience has been MTV’s Geordie Shore – the app seems a great match for the target demographic that MTV are trying to attract to watch Geordie Shore – a young crowd, interested in receiving pictures for only a few seconds. The nature of the app, in that you are in control of watching videos or viewing the pictures that you receive, means that the target audience feels a greater involvement in the advertisement and is particularly engaged in it. In addition, most people cannot resist viewing the Snaps that they receive as they are filled with a natural sense of intrigue at what it might contain and the creativity it might involve. An interesting Snap could work as a particularly memorable form of advertising. On the other hand, if advertising is poorly done on this platform it will be erased immediately after being viewed, so will not affect the brand’s image for long. So, as a method of marketing it could be effective providing the target audience are Snapchat users, as it has little cost and for some particular brands there could be a lot to gain.

Image - www.marketingweek.co.uk

MTV have not been alone in using Snapchat as a marketing tool, Taco Bell have also adopted this approach in their marketing strategy asking their Twitter followers to add them on Snapchat. Could this be the beginning of the monetization of Snapchat? The success of brands like MTV and Taco Bell on Snapchat may lead other brands towards Snapchat, and may lead to developments which introduce ads to Snapchat. However, with almost half of Snapchat users having received nude or inappropriate photos via the platform, it has received an undesired reputation as an app on which unsuitable photos are sent and therefore has been slower to attract brands. However, Taco Bell does not seem to fear the reputation of the site, and has instead focused on how the person who receives the Snapchat feels instantly special and connected to the brand. Taco Bell’s social media and digital lead commented “we want to make someone’s day everyday with our social channels… it feels extremely special to get a Snapchat. It’s almost like we pick up the phone and give them a call”.

Taco Bell Snapchat image - www.shoutlet.com

An interesting idea used by the American frozen yoghurt chain 16Handles has been to use Snapchat as a way to interact with their customers and offer them discounts on their next purchase. The way it works is - you have to send a picture of you and your friends enjoying a frozen yoghurt at one of the 16Handles shops, sending it to Love16Handles on Snapchat. In return you will be sent a discount vouchers ranging from 16% to 100% off your purchase, allowing the cashier 10 seconds to scan the coupon. This is once again dependent upon the correct target audience being on Snapchat, which was correctly identified by 16Handles. The surprise and possibility of getting a discount is likely to be an effective marketing tool for the brand, but will other brands adopt this approach?

Image - engage.synecoretech.com

Therefore, it is fair to say that there is only a limited number of brands who have the potential to advertise on Snapchat in the first place, as it needs to appeal to the correct audience and needs to have a visual appeal. Currently, brands are only able to advertise through Snapchat if their followers add them on the social media platform and Snapchat itself is the only company able to send out Snaps to everyone. This is effective as only people who wish to receive the Snapchats from the brands will do so. This begs the question of whether Snapchat may start to allow brands to pay to send out Snapchats to all users, beginning the monetization of the application. However, will this detract from the personal nature of the app where you only receive messages from your friends? If all Snapchat users start receiving unwanted adverts, will it change the nature of its use?

What do you think?

Do you think Snapchat could be used as an effective marketing tool?