- Snap CEO Evan Spiegel declared social media “dead” in a memo, instead touting Snapchat’s happiness and AR future.
- He wants financial stability to shift computing into glasses.
- But content issues and teen retention challenges temper Spiegel’s ambitious vision.
In an internal memo this week, Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel rallied employees by proclaiming “Social Media is Dead” and outlining his vision to “transcend the limitations of the smartphone.” He positioned Snapchat as a rare source of happiness compared to the “online popularity contest” of sites like Facebook.
Strategic focus and challenges
The fiery note comes as Snap aims to rebound from recent struggles in growing revenue and users. Spiegel cited urgency in improving ad performance, targeting, and analytics. He wants Snap on a solid financial footing to eventually shift computing into augmented reality glasses.
Future ambitions
In perhaps the boldest section, Spiegel explicitly called out rivals for “connecting pedophiles” and “fueling insurrection.” Some employees felt his overt attacks on Meta were unnecessary and divisive.
But they fit Spiegel’s long-held ambition to differentiate Snapchat as an “antidote” to exterior pressures to appear perfect online.
Nonetheless, Snapchat still battles content moderation and safety issues. Spiegel sees 2024 as a pivotal year to deliver on core priorities – especially more iOS integration and unifying video formats.
Success could position Snap as a leader of the next major computing platform. But with competitors now investing heavily in alluring teens, retaining uniqueness poses an uphill climb.
