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Snapchat has been making some very solid moves lately in their quest to evolve into more than just a fringe social network as of late. The company’s Stories platform has paved the way for not just enhanced user content, but also premium offerings and advertisers who stand to help them make some serious cash.
But the company’s latest move isn’t being praised by the masses. Snapchat has forced everyone to use Bitmojis — their take on animated avatars — in their Snapcode as opposed to the previous option that allowed you to use either a Bitmoji or a photo of your own.
For those who were already using Bitmoji, this change means nothing. But for the tons of folks out there who didn’t want some cartoon figurehead representing their Snapchat profile, this is probably the worst change ever.
The worst thing is Snapchat doesn’t even give you a say in the matter. If you already created a Bitmoji before the change, they force you to use it in your Snapcode, even if you had a nice photo of yourself there. Folks who didn’t previously create a Bitmoji aren’t affected, though. And how fair is that? Not fair at all, we’d say.
We wholeheartedly understand the fits of rage folks are going through right now. These companies tend to make unpopular changes seemingly without running them through a focus group, and when that happens, it usually comes down to matters of business strategy more than customer satisfaction.
That is to say, Bitmojis might become a staple pillar of Snapchat’s business, with the company adding a new “mood” feature to allow you to express your current mood by changing the look of your avatar.
We’ve already seen inklings of premium offers with jerseys from the MLB and NBA being offered as rags for your digital self to dress up in. Those have been free and should remain free, but by making Bitmojis mandatory Snapcode avatars it sounds like Snapchat wants to open the door to create a bigger platform on the back of these caricatures, such as paid cosmetics so you can make your Bitmojis look even more unique than you’re able to make them today.
Long story short, it’s probably a business move. If you don’t like it, keep shouting to the rooftops — that tends to help in getting unpopular changes reversed — but don’t bank on it companies changing their mind when big money is involved. We’ll have to wait and see how this one evolves over the long term.
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