Source:
https://scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3088752/snapchat-add-breaking-news-and-mental-health-features-among
Lifestyle/ Entertainment

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 revealed a number of efforts to boost usage and engagement at its Snap Partner Summit this week, including adding breaking news, wellness functions, and new gaming and entertainment features. Photo: AFP

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.

Snapchat has more than 200 million daily users. Photo: AP
Snapchat has more than 200 million daily users. Photo: AP

One of the new initiatives will be to offer meditation tools from the health tech group Headspace, which produces apps for relaxing the mind.

“We found that an overwhelming majority of Snapchatters experience feelings of stress and anxiety and that their friends are the first people they turn to when they need help, more than professionals or even their parents,” Snap said.

The company will also accelerate the deployment of “Here For You”, an initiative aimed at helping people suffering from stress and emotional issues.

With more than 200 million daily users, Snapchat touts that it reaches 90 per cent of the 13-34 age group in the United States, and similar amounts in other markets, and sees an opportunity to connect them with well-being resources.

Opening its Snap Partner Summit on Thursday, the social network unveiled other efforts to boost usage and engagement including new gaming and entertainment features.

Snap also announced expanded content deals with Disney, ESPN, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS and others to stream short-form video that has been a hit on the Snapchat Discover platform.

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“The deals also include continued delivery of up-to-the-minute highlights for key news, entertainment and sports moments,” Snap said.

New features for the Snapchat Camera platform for smartphones will give users additional augmented reality options and more.

The platform will offer expanded “visual search” features to help get information about something the user sees, such as plants or dogs. A scan of packaged foods will offer nutritional information about the products.

“It’s really around helping the camera to help you live your life and enriching your life and kind of having less division between the digital world,” said Carolina Arguelles of Snapchat Camera.

A “places” feature being added to personalised maps shows spots popular in the Snapchat community, with information such as hours and reviews about millions of businesses around the world being added, according to Snap.

“We’ve also made it easy for local businesses to re-engage their customers as they reopen by providing free ad credits,” Snap said.