if you’re a creator, you need to be on Snapchat. here’s why:

for a long time, I associated Snapchat with the platform I used to communicate with my college friends.

and by “communicate,” I mean send 2 a.m. selfies with the dog filter and rainbow-vomit snaps- I now shudder with the realization that they are archived online somewhere.

Snapchat’s always had a rep for being the app you use with your actual friends-  the place for bathroom selfies, inside jokes, and honestly, the drunk videos from that night you wouldn’t post anywhere else.and for years, it was still… there. still doing its thing. but it wasn’t part of my daily scroll. it felt like the forgotten stepchild of social media.

…until recently. 

if you’re a creator, you need to be on Snapchat. here’s why:

quietly- almost sneakily- Snapchat’s been building something that might just be the most creator-friendly ecosystem out there right now. and a lot of people haven’t noticed. according to founder Evan Spiegel, that slow-and-steady build was completely intentional- a way to stick to Snapchat’s original friends-first DNA while quietly adding the tools that would make creators want to come back.

on Instagram, you’re performing.

TikTok gave us a taste of more casual, day-to-day style content, and audiences ate it up. But even “casual” TikToks that blow up still have a hook, a punchline, or an engaging storyline.

Snapchat takes that casualness one step further. it’s the most basic form of sharing content- no elaborate setups. no clever hooks. no obsessing over watch time. it’s literally like letting your audience peek over your shoulder as you live your life.

Snapchat still has the same vibe as it did in my college days- casual. intimate. like it could’ve been meant just for a friend. apparently, Spiegel’s whole thesis from day one was that social media should feel like you’re talking to your real friends, not performing for strangers. that’s why Snapchat never turned into a “look at me” feed like Instagram- now creators are using it to connect and build trust with their audiences and it is creating some major demand.

and in 2025, trust is your currency.

with AI influencers flooding feeds and AI clones of real creators doing “day in the life” videos getting increasingly realistic, authenticity is about to become the rarest commodity online. people can’t tell what’s real anymore- so when they do feel like they’re getting genuine face time with you, it matters.

that changes how people see you, how they respond to you, and how much they trust you. a Snapchat Story doesn’t feel like an ad- it feels like a FaceTime.

and because everything disappears in 24 hours, there’s urgency. your followers know if they don’t check in today, they’ll miss it forever. that’s a totally different kind of engagement than the “I’ll watch it later” graveyard of other platforms. it’s not polished. it’s not permanent. it’s now.

that intimacy isn’t just nice for your ego. it converts. it makes people click your links, buy your merch, and show up to your events.

perhaps even more importantly: beyond those conversions, people are starting to make serious money on the app, thanks in large part to Spotlight. think of Spotlight as Snapchat’s answer to TikTok’s For You Page: short, vertical videos surfaced to a massive audience.the difference is, Snapchat will actually cut you a check for high-performing content (and it doesn’t have to be a highly scripted video with a strong hook). some creators are cashing in hard.

Netflix star Katie Feeney reportedly made over a million dollars in two months on Spotlight alone. others are paying their rent (and then some) with AR filters.

Spotlight and AR tools aren’t just side hustles for the app- they’re part of a deliberate plan to make Snap the most creator-friendly and hardest-to-copy platform out there. while other platforms are in a constant race to clone each other’s features, Snap’s been building tech and tools that actually pay creators and give them unique ways to connect.

bottom line: the platforms that win long-term aren’t always the loudest ones in the room. sometimes, they’re the ones quietly building a space that actually works for creators.

and right now, that’s Snapchat.

xx

-Mackenzie @ the cohort