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Why is Snapchat moving into the news business?

Photo and video sharing application Snapchat is diving head first into the news business with a new approach. Will it work?

The popular picture and video messaging mobile application Snapchat, is now a news sharing service.

The new Snapchat venture is called Discover and it allows news agencies to post messages users can open to read news stories, according to a story from Wired. To start, Discover will partner with ten media companies including CNN, VICE, Comedy Central, ESPN, and National Geographic, among others.

Snapchat creator, Evan Spiegel has long possessed a highly coveted audience. According a Wall Street Journal blog from August, consultants hired to evaluate the app’s users discovered Snapchat had over 100 million people using the app monthly. Most of these users are between the ages of 13 and 25, according to the International Business Times.

By launching Discover, the app’s creators saw an opportunity to present news in a different format to an audience that does not consume a large amount of traditional news, according to CNBC.

“We’re always seeking out new audiences and advertisers, and it’s more important than ever to tailor content to suit the platform,” Andrew Morse, senior vice president and general manager of CNN Digital, said in a statement. Snapchat will forge a partnership with traditional news sources and have them tailor their content to Snapchat’s platform.

In the social media world, Mr. Spiegel claimed, traditional news providers were forced to use their traditional news to compete with popular trending content. With Discovery, editors and producer choose what content Snapchat provides to users.

The Snapchat team stated their commitment to letting editorial teams find the most compelling stories to ‘snappers’ on the company’s website.

“[Discover] is the result of collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first,” the team wrote on their blog. “Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important.”

Snapchat has previously had relationships with companies like McDonald's, who use their platform to send advertisements to users, sending messages to users' inboxes – the place where they usually receive messages from friends.

The only remaining question is if users will get annoyed at seeing news blurbs from CNN or VICE in a space they are used to interacting mainly with friends.

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