Like OMG, 77% of US college kids use Snapchat daily George March 12, 2014 Audience Building, Communications, Snapchat A new study that polled 1,600 self-identified social media users in college from around the United States revealed that an enormous 77% use Snapchat on daily basis. The study also found that the majority of pictures sent through Snapchat – are not in fact of below-the-waste material – but rather selfies. Roughly 50% of men said they send a selfie at least half the time, and 70% of women said the same. (The study certainly supports Oxford Dictionaries’ decision to make “Selfie” the word of the year in 2013.) The Snapchat study was carried about by Sumpto, a New York-based marketing company uncovers influential colleges kids on campus and then engages them to represent brands on social media. The brands send students free stuff, and the students share it out over their social media profiles. It’s a cheap way for brands to get some of the most valuable endorsements in town. Funnily enough only 2% of poll respondents listed “sexting” as their primary use of the service. But then you wouldn’t really tell a researcher that now would you? Snapchat has long been associated with sexting and sending inappropriate messages, but it appears that for college students, the app is primarily used for other functions. The most popular Snapchat use case was “creativity” (37%), followed by “Keeping in touch” (27%) and “easier than texting” (23%). Hmm … creativity for a college kid could mean many things. But the last couple definitely make sense.
