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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Alex Hern

How Snapchat is saving itself – and keeping up with Silicon Valley giants

SnapChat.
‘We had put too many barriers in place’ … Snapchat. Photograph: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Why are some social networks a success, while others struggle to stay alive? How did Facebook and Twitter go from being peers in the 2000s to barely even rivals 15 years on? Everyone seems to use social media, so everyone seems to have an answer to this sort of question.

But social networks are icebergs: most of what matters lies below the surface. Simply building a good user experience is table stakes for playing in the space. To actually succeed, though, you also need to master the parts most people don’t see.

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