While bloggers are still pretty influential, social media has helped create what is known by many today as “influencers” who can be found on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, where posting a single photo for a product could net them thousands of dollars. This is due to their reach or “influence”.
It also seems that this influence can sometimes backfire on companies that in a way, helped to create these celebrities, such as is the case with Snap. Celebrity and social influencer Kylie Jenner recently sent out a tweet that implied that she felt that Snapchat was “dead”. As a result it seems that it could have sent share prices of Snap spiraling down by as much as 8%.
sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018
Given that it was just last year that the company filed for an IPO, this is certainly a rather sharp drop, although there are some who suggest that Jenner’s tweet wasn’t the sole reason for this and that analysts might have had a hand in it too. This seems to have to do with Snapchat’s redesign which was originally intended to be for the better, only to be met with huge resistance upon its release.
Snap has since responded to the criticisms and might have offered some concessions, but ultimately it seems that the company plans on sticking to their guns.