Snapchat to add breaking news and mental health features among other big updates
- Social network’s Happening Now service will deliver breaking news from partners including The Washington Post, NBC News and ESPN
- Meditation tools from Headspace to be added, as well as a Here For You initiative aimed at helping people suffering from stress and emotional issues
Snapchat announced this week it would deliver breaking news as the youth-focused social network unveiled a series of new features focused on information, entertainment and wellness.
The California-based unit of parent Snap introduced a Happening Now service intended to quickly deliver news to its users.
The list of partners for Happening Now includes The Washington Post, NBC News, ESPN, E! News, and BuzzFeed News.
Snap says that many of its users already get news on Snapchat and that the new feature will offer “the biggest stories across politics, entertainment, sports and more into a new, easy-to-consume format customised for mobile”.
The news service will also spotlight “Snaps” (pictures or videos) publicly shared by its users, “since every day Snapchatters use phones to capture events around them”, the company said.
