Snap Inc. is considering changes to its Snapchat app, known for disappearing photos and videos, that could make users’ public posts longer lasting or even permanent*, people familiar with the matter said. The company is also weighing an option to reveal the identities of Snapchat users who make public posts. Together the changes would mark a big step in Snap’s effort to lure and keep users by making public content more available outside Snapchat. They could also create a new revenue source for money-losing Snap, which has seen its user base shrink and executives flee the company. But such changes to Snapchat, which launched in 2011 and became an instant hit among teenagers and millennials, could trigger backlash* from users who cherish their privacy, especially as rival Facebook Inc. has been plagued* by scandals over how it handles user data. Snap is carefully weighing the privacy, technical and legal considerations of revealing user identities on public posts, the source said. Snap has already extended the shelf life* of public stories, but making them last even longer or revealing more about the users who create them would be a further departure from Snapchat’s hallmark* features. (SD-Agencies) |