How Adding Users Could Backfire for Snapchat

Fifty-one percent of Snapchat users said they prefer the app’s previous interface, a figure that climbs to 63 percent among young adults, according to a Morning Consult poll of 2,201 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 15-19 that has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

A Change.org petition calling for Snapchat to drop the new interface had more than 1.2 million signatures as of Feb. 23, and analysts at Citibank Inc. downgraded Snap's stock from neutral to sell on Feb. 20.

Celebrities such as television personality Kylie Jenner and model Chrissy Teigen, who have famously shared intimate looks at their lives through Snapchat, have criticized the new design and its impact on how they interact with fans. Last week, beauty brand Maybelline New York deleted a Twitter post saying its Snapchat views have dropped dramatically and asking followers if the brand should choose a new platform to connect.

A Snapchat spokesman told Morning Consult via email that updates this big can take some time to get used to. He did not respond to a question about whether the company intends to draw in older users in the coming year.

Young adult users were more averse to the new interface than those 30 and older who use Snapchat. Forty-seven percent of those ages 18 to 29 said they were less likely to use Snapchat with its redesign, compared to 32 percent who said they would use it more. Meanwhile, 35 percent of adults ages 30 to 44 said they were more likely to use it more, with 31 percent saying they were less likely.

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