Sorry, But Snapchat Is Not Bringing Back the Old Design
If early reviews are any indication, Snap’s decision to overhaul its messaging app may have backfired with its key teen demographic.
And Daily Beast reporter Taylor Lorenz says the changes may not bring in enough “older” users over the age of 25 to make up the difference.
“It’s going to have to provide a more compelling use case for them,” she told Cheddar. “Older users are not looking to chat on it. A lot of them use other chat platforms -- Stories has been taken over by Instagram.”
Snap has seen backlash from younger users over a complete redesign that was rolled out globally last week. When announcing the new look, CEO Evan Spiegel said the changes separate the platform from the rest of social media and strengthen its relationship with users and the media.
Lorenz says that could mean the app becomes more of news destination, but whether the strategy pays off remains to be seen.
“They’re hoping to have 10 thousand tiles on the right hand side, so that’s a big opportunity to sell ad inventory. But I think they’re going to need to come up with more unique products, and I think they’re going to have a really hard time competing with Facebook and Instagram who have so much data.”
And for those hoping the company will revert to its old design, Lorenz says not to hold their breath.
“There is less than a zero chance, I’m so sorry to all the youngsters out there. There’s no going back, unfortunately, for them.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/snapchats-teen-revolt).
It's a big weekend for sports betting, with the NFL conference championships and Australian Open finals expected to bring the industry even more traffic. And if record viewership of the divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills was any indication, sports betting will only continue to grow as football season comes to an end. Joe Raineri, sports betting analyst at SportsGrid, joined Cheddar to discuss how these sporting events could impact the industry, which is expected to get even bigger in 2022.
Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawaski Wealth and Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says now is a great opportunity to buy low on Tesla after shares fell in light of the EV giant's latest earnings report.
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Stocks closed lower Thursday amid continued volatility. The S&P 500 was down 10% from its record high, the Dow was down 7%, and the Nasdaq was 4% away from bear market territory as it closed 16% below its record high. Investors are still processing this week's Federal Reserve announcement about a potential first rate hike in March. Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, predictions about interest rate hikes, and more.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.